Wednesday, May 19, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Southern Nevada's home prices soar

Median sales price of single-family, detached homes exceeds $250,000

Click image for enlargement Brau Corona, left, and Hector Andrade work on a home in an Aliante subdivision on Tuesday. Photo by Clint Karlsen.

Las Vegas home prices are getting more expensive, with the median sales price of Southern Nevada single-family, detached homes exceeding $250,000 for the first time in April, according to one Realtor group's statistics.

The median price, in which half the homes sold above and half below the amount, was $252,500, a 44.3 percent increase from $175,000 a year ago, the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors reported Tuesday.

The Realtor group's statistics compile prices for both existing and new single-family detached homes that were being resold on the Multiple Listing Service.

The average price was $294,488, up 26.3 percent.

The group's statistics also showed 3,267 home sales in April, an increase of 35 percent from the same month last year.

"I think when we look perspectively at our town against the rest of the country, we can't say our homes are inexpensive now," said Lee Barrett, president of the association and owner of Century 21 Barrett. "But it is affordable when you compare it to other metropolitan areas."

In fact, the local median price of homes is not as high if based on other criteria.

Home Builders Research, which counts home sales through deed closings at the Clark County Recorder's Office, reported 2,216 new home sales in April at a median price of $233,360.

Resales totaled 6,292 at a median price of $220,000. Building permits for new homes rose to 3,424, a 62 percent increase from April 2003. Home Builders Research's median price numbers also include non-detached home figures from townhome and condominium sales.

Dennis Smith, president of Home Builders Research, said the issue of housing affordability is also continuing to be an ongoing problem that home builders face in Las Vegas. A study a couple of years ago by the Southern Nevada Home Builders Association showed that 1,400 home buyers are priced out of the market for every $1,000 increase in home price, he said.

"Luckily we have enough demand here from people who want to live in Las Vegas that we don't have a situation where we can't find buyers for homes," he said.

"We may be pricing people out, but we're finding buyers moving here. Is it a problem? Absolutely. I don't see it getting any better. With the price of land going up, I see no reason to expect home prices to come down."

Barrett, who recently returned from a National Association of Realtors' conference in Washington, Barrett said housing markets are sizzling all over the United States, not just in Las Vegas.

"It's happening all around the country, in south Florida, the Midwest. Maybe not as much as we're seeing here. It's the (low) interest rates," Barrett said.

Hugh Newkirk of Newkirk Realty said he's starting to see some of his clients in Sun City Summerlin cashing in on their homes, which have appreciated 2 percent to 3 percent a month over the past few years, and moving to lower-priced areas such as Phoenix.

"At least through the summer, we see prices continuing to rise," he said. "I do think the election and interest rates will slow the rate of increase."

His wife and business partner, Karen Newkirk, said the inventory of available resales has nearly doubled in the last several weeks.

"Quick sales and multiple offers only happen when inventory is down," she said. "Keep an eye on this. It is climbing daily."

The Realtor association reported that 4,667 homes became available for sale on the MLS in April, bringing the total to 8,806.

"That's what we've been saying all along, to watch the number of homes for sale that have been put back on the market by investors," Smith said.

Some homes jump $50,000 in value by the time they close escrow, allowing investors to quickly "flip" them for a tidy profit, he said.

"How many of those houses that they (the Realtor association) list have never been lived in? Those are the investors that builders want to get rid of," Smith said.

Median list price for homes on the MLS was $299,000 in April, up 66.2 percent from $179,900 a year ago. The average-priced listing was $370,703, up 44.6 percent.

Closings for condominiums and townhomes totaled 697 in April, compared with 441 a year ago, the Realtor group reported. Median price was $130,000, up from $98,880 in April 2003.

One alternative that could keep median home prices down this year: apartments converted into condominiums and selling for under $150,000.

Homes don't spend much time on the market in Las Vegas. Nearly 80 percent sold within 30 days and 11 percent sold within two months, according to GLVAR.

Larry Murphy, president of SalesTraq, a local real estate research firm, said Las Vegas is the fastest-selling housing market in the nation.

Existing homes in Las Vegas were listed for an average of 21 days and sold at 100 percent of list price, he said.