More than 10% of Las Vegas mortgage payments late in May

Las Vegas’ mortgage delinquency rate rose again in May after the coronavirus pandemic shut down much of the economy, a new report shows.

Payments were at least 30 days late on 10.5 percent of home loans in the Las Vegas area in May, compared with 7.3 percent nationally, according to CoreLogic.

In April, payments were at least a month behind on 8.5 percent of Southern Nevada home loans, up more than double from 3.4 percent in March, the housing tracker previously reported.

CoreLogic chief economist Frank Nothaft noted in a news release this week that the U.S. unemployment rate shot up from a 50-year low in February to an 80-year high in April after the pandemic sparked sweeping business closures and stay-at-home orders around the nation.

Without further government programs and support, CoreLogic said, the company expects America’s “serious” delinquency rate to quadruple by the end of 2021, meaning some 3 million homeowners would be at least 90 days behind on their mortgage payments by then.

Southern Nevada’s pipeline of home sales shrank rapidly after the pandemic devastated the region’s tourism-dependent economy. But the housing market has been recovering from the outbreak’s early chaos, with sales rising again amid low mortgage rates.

Prices have hit an all-time high during the turmoil as well.

The median sales price of previously owned single-family homes — the bulk of the market — was $330,000 last month, up 1.5 percent from the previous record, in June, and nearly 9 percent year over year, trade association Las Vegas Realtors recently reported.

Contact Eli Segall at esegall@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0342. Follow @eli_segall on Twitter.