Local homes selling faster than in the past

If it seems like for-sale signs aren’t staying in front of houses as long as they used to when you look around your neighborhood, you might be on to something.

That’s because homes in Southern Nevada have been selling faster this year than in the past. So say statistics from the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors and from the National Association of Realtors.

“Homes have generally been selling faster here, as they have across the country,” said GLVAR President Chris Bishop, a longtime local Realtor.

National reports show that homes are not staying on the market for long in most of the country. According to the latest RealtorsConfidence Index Survey from the NAR, properties nationwide sold in a median time of 27 days. That’s a faster sales pace than the 30-day median from a year ago, based on the report covering home sales activity nationwide through July.

The sales pace was fastest in the District of Columbia, where properties sold in just 17 days. Utah was next with 19 days, followed by Colorado, Idaho, Michigan, Ohio, South Dakota and Washington, all at 20 days.

The Las Vegas area did not lead this list, though it certainly followed this trend. According to the NAR report, homes in Southern Nevada sold within 39 days in July 2018. That was 10 days faster than in July 2017.

Though higher-priced homes typically take longer to sell, Bishop said the vast majority of local homes now sell within 60 days. In fact, according to GLVAR statistics through the end of August, 87.5 percent of all existing local homes and 90.2 percent of all existing local condos and town homes sold within 60 days. That compares to one year ago, when 83.3 percent of all existing local homes and 90.4 percent of all existing local condos and town homes sold within 60 days.

“When you look back at these statistics over the years, we’re seeing homes selling as fast this year as they have in recent memory,” Bishop said. “And this sales pace has been fairly constant throughout the year.”

Of course, just as all real estate is local and markets move in cycles, things can’t keep moving this fast forever. Bishop pointed out that the local housing market has been showing signs of cooling down this summer, with home prices leveling off and sales slightly behind last year’s pace. While still selling at a rapid rate, he added that the number of days homes are staying on the market has also been leveling off lately.

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 LasVegasRealtor.com.