Las Vegas’ fast-rising home prices still lag other cities

Southern Nevada home prices are climbing fast, but the gains still lag markets across the U.S. as America’s housing boom shows no signs of slowing.

Home prices in the Las Vegas area were up 10.6 percent year over year in March, below the national rate of 13.2 percent, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller index released Tuesday by S&P Dow Jones Indices.

Among the 20 markets listed in the report, Las Vegas’ annual price growth was second to last, ahead of only Chicago at 9 percent.

Phoenix, with a year-over-year price gain of 20 percent, topped the list for the 22nd consecutive month.

Las Vegas’ housing market has accelerated to its fastest pace in years as cheap borrowing costs fuel a buying binge. Homes are selling quickly as people flood them with offers and routinely pay over the asking price, and builders have been putting buyers on waiting lists, industry sources have said.

Still, as the new report shows, Southern Nevada’s boom is nowhere near that of many other markets, at least by a few measures.

According to listing site Zillow, for instance, about 51 percent of Las Vegas-area homes that found buyers in April got sold within a week of going on the market.

Its share of rapid sales was 27th among the 50 metro areas listed in the report, with Columbus, Ohio, leading the pack at 73.8 percent.

In a sign of the frenzy, Glenn Kelman, CEO of listing site Redfin, said Tuesday on Twitter that one desperate homebuyer in Bethesda, Maryland, offered — perhaps partly tongue-in-cheek — to name her first-born child after the seller.

She still lost out to another buyer.

Zillow economist Matthew Speakman said in a statement Tuesday that nearly 50 percent of U.S. homes going under contract with buyers are being sold in less than a week and that the gradual reopening of the economy from the coronavirus pandemic “has encouraged many would-be buyers to enter the mix.”

Overall, there is “little, if any, indication” that the growth in home prices will slow “anytime soon,” he added.

Southern Nevada’s housing market started heating up last year despite huge job losses sparked by the pandemic. The outbreak kept people home and away from crowds for fear of getting infected, devastating tourism, the backbone of Las Vegas’ casino-heavy economy.

But low mortgage rates pushed many people — at least those who could still afford to buy a place — to lock in cheap money and purchase a home. The market has also received a boost from out-of-state buyers, especially Californians, who seem to be picking up more homes than usual in more-affordable Southern Nevada as people work from home without the need for a commute.

Moreover, as vaccines roll out, unemployment shrinks and daily life sort of returns to normal, the housing market has only gained more momentum.

All told, Las Vegas-area homes are almost always selling over the asking price if the owners are realistic about the value, and they are going under contract with buyers just days after they’re put up for sale, Realty One Group agent Ryan Buttle told the Review-Journal last month.

“The minute we put a listing on, we’re getting calls to get people in the door,” he said.

Contact Eli Segall at esegall@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0342. Follow @eli_segall on Twitter. The Associated Press contributed to this report.