Las Vegas home prices tick lower as ‘pandemic darlings’ keep losing steam

Las Vegas home prices ticked lower in September from year-ago levels as prices nationally inched higher, amid ongoing market sluggishness.

Southern Nevada house prices in September were down 0.69 percent from a year earlier, compared with a 1.29 percent gain nationwide, according to the S&P Cotality Case-Shiller index released Tuesday.

Nationally, this marked the weakest performance since mid-2023, said Nicholas Godec, head of fixed income tradables and commodities at S&P Dow Jones Indices, in the report.

Markets that were “pandemic darlings” are now seeing price declines, while traditionally stable metro areas in the Northeast and Midwest are posting solid gains, Godec said.

As he put it, this suggests a “reversion to pre-pandemic patterns where job markets and urban fundamentals drive appreciation rather than migration trends and remote-work dynamics.”

During the pandemic, rock-bottom mortgage rates fueled a homebuying frenzy nationwide, including in Las Vegas. Locally, houses landed a barrage of offers, often within days of being listed, and routinely sold for over the asking price.

Out-of-state buyers helped give the market a boost. Buyers from California — always a key source of newcomers to Las Vegas — were picking up more homes than usual in Southern Nevada amid widespread work-from-home arrangements.

Eventually, however, rising mortgage rates dumped cold water on the market.

In March 2022, during the buying boom, Las Vegas home prices were up 28 percent from a year earlier.

In March 2023, after borrowing costs had shot higher, Las Vegas home prices were down 5 percent from the prior year, according to Case-Shiller data.

Mortgage rates have largely pushed lower in recent months, giving homebuyers some relief on borrowing costs. But rates are still elevated compared with what buyers have faced over the past 15 years, and home prices remain high in Southern Nevada, making it difficult for many would-be buyers to afford a place.

A total of 1,724 previously owned single-family homes were sold in Southern Nevada in October, down 10 percent from the same month last year, according to trade association Las Vegas Realtors, which pulls data from its listing service.

The median sales price of such homes last month, $474,370, was down just 0.2 percent from a year earlier, the association reported.

Southern Nevada’s all-time high median of $485,000 was reached several times this year, the group noted.

Overall, the U.S. housing market is “stuck,” listing site Redfin recently reported.

Many would-be buyers and sellers “are paralyzed by high prices and economic uncertainty,” Redfin senior economist Asad Khan said in the report.

According to Redfin, some sellers are pricing high because they paid top-dollar during the pandemic, but many buyers aren’t willing to pay that “because they simply can’t afford it.”

Contact Eli Segall at esegall@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0342.