Housing prices still rising; supply shrinking

A recent Las Vegas Realtors report shows the local housing market started 2021 with home prices still rising and the housing supply still shrinking.

LVR (formerly known as the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors) reported the median price of existing single-family homes sold in Southern Nevada through its Multiple Listing Service during January held steady at $345,000. That matches the all-time record set in November and tied in December of 2020. It’s also up 13.1 percent from a median price of $305,000 in January 2020. Local condos and town homes also posted double-digit gains compared to one year ago, selling for a median price of $193,000 in January. That’s up 10.3 percent from $175,000 in January of 2020.

“The local housing market continues to perform better during this pandemic than most of us expected,” said 2021 LVR President Aldo Martinez. “This month’s statistics are especially encouraging when you consider that January is usually one of the slowest months for both home sales and prices.”

Martinez, a longtime local Realtor who took over as president of the association Jan. 1, said the number of local homes available for sale remains well below the six-month supply considered to be a balanced market. In fact, he said the sales pace in January equates to less than a one-month supply of existing homes available for sale, creating a housing shortage.

“There has been a lot of news lately about the local and national housing supply being at or near an all-time low,” he said. “But this also presents a great opportunity for sellers, who’ve never seen a better time to sell their home for top dollar.”

By the end of January, LVR reported 2,315 single-family homes listed for sale without any sort of offer. That’s down 52.8 percent from one year ago. For condos and town homes, the 847 properties listed without offers in January represent a 40.3 percent drop from one year ago.

LVR reported a total of 3,262 existing local homes, condos and town homes were sold during January. Compared to the same time last year, January sales were up 15.5 percent for homes and up 5.4 percent for condos and town homes.

According to LVR, the total number of existing local homes, condos, town homes and other residential properties sold in Southern Nevada during 2020 was 41,617. That’s up from 41,269 total sales in 2019. By comparison, LVR reported 42,876 total sales in 2018 and 45,388 in 2017.

For years, Southern Nevada made national news for riding a real estate roller-coaster, with pre-recession home prices soaring to record highs and then falling faster than almost anywhere else in the U.S. during the Great Recession. Since the pandemic started last year, the local housing market has been more in line with national trends, with a shortage of homes available for sale and historically low mortgage interest rates contributing to increasing sales and record prices.

During January, LVR reported that 21.3 percent of all local property sales were purchased with cash. That compares to 24.3 percent one year ago. That’s well below the February 2013 peak of 59.5 percent, suggesting that cash buyers and investors have been less active in the local housing market.

Despite the coronavirus crisis and economic downturn, the number of so-called distressed sales remains near historically low levels. LVR reported that short sales and foreclosures combined accounted for just 1.2 percent of all existing local property sales in January. That compares to 2.7 percent of all sales one year ago, 2.8 percent two years ago, 4.3 percent three years ago and 11 percent four years ago.

These LVR statistics include activity through the end of January 2021. LVR distributes statistics each month based on data collected through its MLS, which does not necessarily account for newly constructed homes sold by local builders or homes for sale by owners. Other highlights include:

• The total value of local real estate transactions tracked through the MLS during January was more than $1.1 billion for homes and nearly $131 million for condos, high-rise condos and town homes. Compared to one year ago, total sales values in January were up 37.9 percent for homes and up 12.2 percent for condos and town homes.

• Homes have been selling faster than they were one year earlier. In January, 80.7 percent of all existing local homes and 75.5 percent of all existing local condos and town homes sold within 60 days. That compares to one year ago, when 68.8 percent of all existing local homes and 66.2 percent of all existing local condos and town homes sold within 60 days.

Las Vegas Realtors was founded in 1947 and provides its more than 15,000 local members with education, training and political representation. The local representative of the National Association of Realtors, LVR is the largest professional organization in Southern Nevada. Each member receives the highest level of professional training and must abide by a strict code of ethics. For more information, visit LasVegasRealtor.com.