LVR report shows year ended with tight housing supply, slower sales

A Las Vegas Realtors report shows 2023 was the slowest year for local home sales in at least a decade, though local home prices increased slightly amid a tight housing supply.

LVR reported that the median price of existing single-family homes sold in Southern Nevada through its Multiple Listing Service during December was $449,900. That’s up 5.9 percent from $425,000 in December of 2022. Local home prices are still below the all-time record of $482,000 set in May of 2022.

Meanwhile, the median price of local condos and town homes sold in December was$270,000, up 9.3 percent from $246,950 in December of 2022. That’s still down from the all-time high of $287,000 set in August of 2022.

Merri Perry, a longtime local Realtor who began her term as 2024 LVR president in January, said a persistently tight housing supply during 2023 slowed sales but helped to prop up home prices. She attributed much of this to mortgage interest rates, which rose throughout much of the year before dipping back down as the year ended.

“It was good to see interest rates coming back down late in the year,” Perry said. “That helps more buyers afford a home. While we still need more homes on the market, many national experts are predicting at least some increase in the housing supply as we get into 2024. That should help buyers and help us sell more homes.”

By the end of December, LVR reported 3,766 single-family homes listed for sale without any sort of offer. That’s down 39.4 percent from one year earlier. Likewise, the 1,133 condos and town homes listed without offers in December represent an 18.5 percent decline from one year earlier.

LVR reported a total of 1,981 existing local homes, condos and town homes sold in December. Compared to December 2022, sales were down 1 percent for homes, but up 18.1 percent for condos and town homes.

The sales pace in December equates to about two and a half months of properties available for sale. One year earlier, Southern Nevada had nearly a four-month housing supply.

LVR reported a total of 29,069 sales of existing local homes, condos and town homes during 2023. 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.

According to LVR, 2023 marked the fewest local property sales since at least 2014, when LVR reported 35,096 total sales, and likely since the Great Recession.

During December, LVR found that 28.8 percent of all local property sales were cash transactions. That’s up from 22.2 percent one year ago. That’s still well below the May 2013 cash buyer peak of 59.5 percent, suggesting that investors have been less active in the local housing market.

The number of so-called distressed sales remains near historically low levels. LVR reported that short sales and foreclosures combined accounted for 1.2 percent of all existing local property sales in December. That compares to 0.7 percent of all sales one year ago, 0.4 percent two years ago, 0.9 percent three years ago, 1.8 percent four years ago and 2.9 percent five years ago.

These LVR statistics include activity through the end of December 2023. 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 December was nearly $860 million for homes and more than $137 million for condos, high-rise condos and town homes. Compared to one year earlier, total sales values in December were up 9.2 percent for homes and up 35.6 percent for condos and town homes.

■ In December, 78.5 percent of all existing local homes and 82.9 percent of all existing local condos and town homes sold within 60 days. That compares to one year earlier, when 68 percent of all existing local homes and 66.8 percent of all existing local condos and town homes sold within 60 days.

Las Vegas Realtors (formerly known as the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors) was founded in 1947 and provides its nearly 17,000 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. For more information, visit LasVegasRealtor.com.