Supply isn’t meeting demand for buyers seeking houses in Henderson

Often when buying a home, people will scour the Internet hoping to find the perfect house in Henderson.

After finding a few options, some decide to contact a Realtor such as Danielle Gordon, who is the lead buyers agent with Team Carver at Prudential Americana Group.

Even though websites show multiple properties up for grabs, the problem Gordon sees is that many of these houses that are listed already have a prospective buyer (or buyers) who has made an offer.

“There are only 645 homes available in Henderson,” Gordon said.

But on the list, most homes are in contingency stage, meaning an offer has already been made on it.

Supply is not meeting demand, said Dave Tina, president of the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors.

Even though 3,232 homes were sold valleywide in February, according to the organization, more people than that are looking for homes.

“If something gets listed, you have to get out there immediately,” Gordon said. “Someone else might be looking for their perfect home as well.”

She added that some people are lucky to get what they’re looking for on the first shot.

“It’s a learning process,” she said. “You (have) got to get out there and make multiple offers and be really aggressive.”

Along with limited supply, people are dealing with multiple competitors — investors and other locals — who are willing to outbid the competition.

According to the organization, 59.5 percent of all existing homes sold in Southern Nevada in 2012 were purchased with cash.

“But that’s not all investors,” Tina said. “You have regular homeowners using cash as well.”

Gordon added that it’s a mixture of out-of-state people and locals interested in moving to Henderson.

It might not be a buyer’s market, but Gordon said it’s a good time to sell a home.

A Henderson home listed at around $500,000 went on the market in early April and quickly got three calls, Gordon said.

Tina said the median price of existing homes sold in February was up by 24 percent from 2012.

Gordon added that in ZIP codes such as 89052, which is in Henderson, home values increased 20 percent from 2011 to 2012.

Even though the market is improving, Gordon hopes to see it normalize.

“It’s been up and down on a roller coaster,” she said.

Tina said he foresees the market stabilizing.

He added that when the housing market took a downturn, it had a lot to do with the economy.

“We had the highest unemployment,” he said. “People had bought houses they couldn’t afford. Now, the confidence of the consumer is coming back.”

Instead of seeing people buying foreclosures, Tina said there has been an increase in traditional home sales and short sales.

“We are seeing about a 50 to 55 percent of traditional homes being sold,” he said. “We are seeing about 40 percent of short sales and 10 percent or less in foreclosures.”

The need for new homes has also gone up.

In addition to Realtors helping homebuyers, the city of Henderson is helping potential homebuyers jump into the market with programs such as the First-Time Homebuyer program and the Neighborhood Stabilization Program.

“It helps assist low-income families to purchase homes,” said Gilbert Medina, a spokesman with the city of Henderson.

Both programs are funded through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The First-Time Homebuyer program, which began in 1992, assists people with a 0 percent interest deferred loan, not to exceed 6 percent or $10,000 maximum for down payments and closing costs.

Applicants’ income must be at or lower than 80 percent of the annual median income.

“Also, applicants must have less than $25,000 in assets,” he added.

To qualify, people must put at least $1,500 toward the property and take an eight-hour home education course that includes information on savings, budgeting, debt resolution, insurance and escrow.

Medina said the city usually gets eight to 12 applicants per year. It has assisted 50 clients since it began.

The program gets $100,000 per year to assist people. The amount rolls over to the next year if it’s not used.

The Neighborhood Stabilization Program, which was established through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, or the stimulus plan, received funds to invest in communities hardest hit by residential foreclosures.

The city received $3.9 million in the Neighborhood Stabilization Program Round 3. Applicants must take a home education course. Additionally, the property they are looking at must be in designated areas in Henderson.

Even if someone applies for the program and is eligible for assistance, there are still obstacles ahead.

With a low supply of options, homebuyers could potentially go up against people paying cash or willing to overbid on prices.

Medina said the program won’t allow for bids more than the appraised value.

“So, it makes it very difficult going up against investors,” he said.

For more information on programs at the city of Henderson, visit cityofhenderson.com.

Contact Henderson/Anthem View reporter Michael Lyle at mlyle@viewnews.com or 702-387-5201.