Black Friday-style deals available on Las Vegas-area homes, as sellers cut prices, Zillow says

Mortgage rate relief could be finally on the horizon for homebuyers in Las Vegas, according to a new report from Zillow.

The average mortgage payment in November for a house in the Las Vegas Valley with 20 percent down is $2,118, a 2.9 percent drop year over year, according to the online real estate brokerage.

Freddie Mac has the average 30-year fixed-term mortgage at 6.1 percent, the second straight week of declines coming off Thanksgiving. A year ago this time the mortgage rate was 6.6 percent, but the overall mortgage rate has not gone below 6 percent since 2022, a ceremonial number analysts are keeping an eye on.

Kara Ng, a senior economist at Zillow, said for-sale supply of homes continues to pile onto the Las Vegas Valley market, and in markets across the country.

According to Las Vegas Realtors, 7,033 homes were on the market in Southern Nevada in November without any offer, a 26.3 percent increase from the same month last year. The number of condos and townhomes on the market without an offer jumped 40.8 percent compared to November of last year.

“Together these factors (lower mortgage rates and more houses on the market) have reduced monthly mortgage payments by almost 3 percent, or $64 a month, compared to a year ago,” Ng said of the Las Vegas-area market.

With more houses on the market for sale, Zillow has the median sale price in the valley dropping to $425,260 in November. Las Vegas Realtors, which pulls it data from the Multiple Listing Service, though has the median sale price at a record high of $488,995.

America’s housing market has been locked in a stasis since the wake of the pandemic after mortgage rates shot up due to inflation which was caused largely by government spending during Covid-19. Las Vegas home prices broke a new record high in November, however supply continues to come onto the market at an unprecedented rate, according to data from trade association Las Vegas Realtors.

Ng said at some point buyers might start to exercise more power in the purchasing process given how many homes are on the market in Las Vegas and across the country.

“Buyers might find better deals by looking for price cuts,” she said. “Lower competition means buyers still in the market can find some Black Friday-style discounts on homes. More than 30 percent of listings in Las Vegas have had a price cut, for a cumulative total of nearly $25,000.”

The Federal Reserve cut interest rates again Wednesday at its last meeting of the year, and local mortgage advisor Matt Hennessy, said cuts to the overall benchmark rate aren’t as simple as many people think and all eyes will be on the Federal Reserve’s economic outlook and projections moving forward.

“The most optimistic conclusion would be that a rate cut would surprise a larger part of the market than normal and thus put downward pressure on other rates,” he said. “Unfortunately, it’s more complicated than that. Even if 15 percent of the market is surprised by a rate cut, the impact on longer-term rates will be influenced by several other factors. Most notably, this is one of the four meetings per year that includes a dot plot, which is an updated rate forecasts from each Fed member.”

Hector Amendola, the president of Las Vegas-based Panorama Mortgage Group, said the discussion needs to pivot from the “relentless” topic around pursuing lower rates. He said lower rates are definitely a doubled-edged sword for a local housing market that just set a new record high for home prices in November.

“While lower rates can certainly help with affordability, they also tend to ignite demand which pushes prices even higher and ultimately puts more families out of reach,” he said. “The more sustainable path is a housing market where prices stabilize and wages have room to catch up, combined with increased new home inventory that real everyday Americans can afford.”

Contact Patrick Blennerhassett at pblennerhassett@reviewjournal.com