Las Vegas home prices rise with national average in April

Las Vegas home prices rose at the same pace as the national average in April, a new report shows, as one outside group declared property values “pandemic-proof” that month.

Southern Nevada home prices in April were up 4.7 percent from a year earlier, same as the U.S. at large, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller index released Tuesday by S&P Dow Jones Indices.

Phoenix posted the biggest year-over-year price jump among the 19 markets in the report, at 8.8 percent.

Even though much of the U.S. economy was closed in April because of the public health crisis, sparking skyrocketing job losses, the housing market didn’t completely evaporate amid the turmoil, as shown in the report.

Analytics firm Oxford Economics said in a statement that U.S. home prices “proved to be pandemic-proof in April.”

Historically low mortgage rates helped buoy “strong buyer demand that had been building in the months preceding the pandemic, fueling competition for the relatively few for-sale homes on the market and driving up prices as a result,” Matthew Speakman, an economist with listing site Zillow, said in a statement.

Job losses shot up to record levels in Southern Nevada after Gov. Steve Sisolak ordered casinos and other businesses closed in March to help contain the virus’ spread. Amid the chaos, the tally of newly signed home-purchase agreements tumbled fast, and sales cancellations surged.

Las Vegas’ housing market has shown signs lately that the pandemic-sparked turmoil has eased, including a drop in canceled deals and an uptick in buyer activity.

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