Home prices in Southern Nevada back to record highs

Home prices in Southern Nevada are back to record highs.

The median sales price for previously owned single-family homes in July in Southern Nevada was $485,000, up 1 percent from the same month last year, according to a new report from trade association Las Vegas Realtors.

Last month’s median matched the all-time high originally set in January of this year.

At the same time, sales volume has tumbled from a year ago, and inventory has soared.

Buyers picked up 2,021 single-family houses last month, down 5.8 percent from July of last year, according to the association, which pulls data from its resale-heavy listing service.

At the end of July, 7,147 houses were listed for sale without any offers, up 54.2 percent from a year earlier, while 2,622 condos and townhomes were listed without offers, a 77 percent jump.

Las Vegas Realtors President George Kypreos said the “biggest headline” in the local housing market is the increased inventory.

“More homes to choose from is good news for buyers,” he said in a news release. “It’s also a sign that the market has been cooling down lately.”

A recent report from listing site Zillow found the Las Vegas Valley was short approximately 32,192 homes to achieve a so-called balanced market, meaning there is a lack of homes for sale on both the resale and new-home side.

The median sales price of condos and townhomes last month was $290,000, down 2 percent from July of last year.

According to the association, the sales pace in July amounted to close to a four-month housing supply. Last year at this time, Southern Nevada had just over a two-month supply, the group reported.

Also last month, 78.8 percent of houses and 73.5 percent of condos and townhomes sold within 60 days of being listed. A year earlier, 86.5 percent of houses and 81.8 percent of condos and townhomes sold within 60 days.

Meanwhile, Southern Nevada’s share of cash transactions has dipped. According to Las Vegas Realtors data, 23.8 percent of all sales last month were cash deals, down from 25.1 percent a year earlier, and far below the peak of 59.5 percent in February 2013.

Contact Patrick Blennerhassett at pblennerhassett@reviewjournal.com.