Southern Nevada home prices hit $300,000 mark

After a sluggish summer, Southern Nevada home prices bounced back in September to hit $300,000 for the first time in more than 11 years, according to a report released this month by the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors.

GLVAR reported the median price for existing single-family homes sold in Southern Nevada through its Multiple Listing Service during September was an even $300,000. That’s up 1.7 percent from August and up 13.2 percent from $265,000 in September of 2017. The median price of local condos and town homes sold in September was $170,000. That’s up 21.4 percent from the same time last year.

“The good news is our median sales price is up,” said GLVAR President Chris Bishop, a longtime local Realtor. “At the same time, sales are down compared to last year. The homes that have sold are selling for a higher price.”

According to GLVAR, this is the first time the median price of a single-family home has hit $300,000 since June of 2007, when the median price was $305,000. The median price of existing single-family homes sold in Southern Nevada peaked at $315,000 in June of 2006. Local home prices hit a post-recession bottom of $118,000 in January of 2012.

For the first time in years, Bishop said Southern Nevada now has more than a two-month supply of existing homes available for sale. A six-month supply would be a more balanced market, he added. By the end of September, GLVAR reported 6,148 single-family homes listed for sale without any sort of offer. That’s up 23.7 percent from one year ago. For condos and town homes, the 1,356 properties listed without offers in September represented a hefty 99.4 percent increase from one year ago.

“While our housing supply is still not where we’d like it to be, it has been increasing lately and went up again in September,” Bishop said. “That’s good news for people looking to buy a home here.”

The total number of existing local homes, condos and town homes sold during September was 3,005. Compared with one year ago, September sales were down 16.4 percent for homes and down 13.4 percent for condos and town homes.

GLVAR reported that 24.8 percent of all local properties sold in September were purchased with cash. That compares with 25.7 percent one year ago. That’s well below the February 2013 peak of 59.5 percent, indicating that cash buyers and investors are still active in the local housing market, but have been playing a much smaller role than they were five or six years ago.

The number of so-called distressed sales continues to drop. GLVAR reported that short sales and foreclosures combined accounted for just 2.5 percent of all existing local home sales in September, down from 5.2 percent of all sales one year ago.

These GLVAR statistics include activity through the end of September 2018. GLVAR distributes statistics each month based on data collected through its MLS, which does not necessarily account for newly constructed homes sold by local builders or homes for sale by owners. Other highlights include:

■ The total value of local real estate transactions tracked through the MLS during September was more than $833 million for homes and more than $104 million for condos, high-rise condos and town homes. Compared with one year ago, total sales volumes in September were down 7.5 percent for homes, but up 1.3 percent for condos and town homes.

■ Homes and condos continue to sell quickly. In September, 86.6 percent of all existing local homes and 90.3 percent of all existing local condos and town homes sold within 60 days. That compares with one year ago, when 82.9 percent of all existing local homes and 87.6 percent of all existing local condos and town homes sold within 60 days.

GLVAR was founded in 1947 and provides its more than 14,000 local members with education, training and political representation. The local representative of the National Association of Realtors, GLVAR is the largest professional organization in Southern Nevada. Each GLVAR member receives the highest level of professional training and must abide by a strict code of ethics. For more information, visit www.LasVegasRealtor.com.