LVR report shows home sales bouncing back this year

After a sluggish year for local homes sales in 2023, a recent Las Vegas Realtors report shows sales bouncing back to start 2024.

LVR reported that the median price of existing single-family homes sold in Southern Nevada through its Multiple Listing Service during February was $460,000.

That’s up 8.2 percent from $424,995 in February 2023. Local home prices are still below the all-time record of $482,000 set in May 2022.

The median price of local condos and town homes sold in February was $283,000, up 11 percent from $255,000 in February 2023. That’s approaching the all-time high of $287,000 set in August 2022.

LVR President Merri Perry, a longtime local Realtor, said a persistently tight housing supply and rising mortgage interest rates have been slowing down the housing market for months. But she sees reasons for optimism in 2024, citing national experts who have been predicting that more homes will be available and sold this year than during 2023.

“It’s encouraging to see that we’re selling more homes so far this year, even with the headwinds we’ve been facing in the housing market,” Perry said. “Here’s hoping our national experts are right in predicting that things will continue to pick up as we head into the spring and summer months, when we traditionally see sales increase.”

By the end of February, LVR reported 3,471 single-family homes listed for sale without any sort of offer. That’s down 25.6 percent from one year earlier. Meanwhile, the 1,160 condos and town homes listed without offers in February represent a 0.4 percent increase from one year earlier.

LVR reported a total of 2,426 existing local homes, condos and town homes sold in February. Compared with February 2023, sales were up 10.1 percent for homes and up 17.8 percent for condos and town homes.

The sales pace in February equates to a local housing supply of just under two months. One year earlier, Southern Nevada had nearly a three-month housing supply.

According to LVR, home sales in Southern Nevada slowed in 2023, which was the slowest year for existing local home sales since 2008.

During 2023, LVR reported a total of 29,069 sales of existing local homes, condos and town homes. That was down from 2022, when LVR reported 35,584 total sales. That followed a record year for existing local home sales in 2021, when LVR reported 50,010 total properties were sold. That was the first time LVR reported more than 50,000 local properties selling in a year. It topped the previous record set in 2011 by nearly 2,000 sales.

During February, LVR found that 29.7 percent of all local property sales were cash transactions. That’s up from 27.1 percent one year ago. That’s still well below the May 2013 cash buyer peak of 59.5 percent.

The number of distressed sales remains near historically low levels. LVR reported that short sales and foreclosures combined accounted for 1.6 percent of all existing local property sales in February. That compares with 1.2 percent one year ago, 0.4 percent two years ago, 0.6 percent three years ago, 2.5 percent four years ago and 2.6 percent five years ago.

These LVR statistics include activity through the end of February 2024. LVR distributes statistics each month based on data collected through its MLS, which does not account for all 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 February was nearly $1.1 billion for homes and more than $161 million for condos, high-rise condos and town homes. Compared with one year earlier, total sales values in February were up 28.4 percent for homes and up 33.1 percent for condos and town homes.

■ In February, 73.2 percent of all existing local homes and 76.9 percent of all existing local condos and town homes sold within 60 days. One year earlier, 61 percent of all existing local homes and 68.9 percent of all existing local condos and town homes sold within 60 days.