62°F
weather icon Partly Cloudy

REAL ESTATE BRIEFS: Housing prices continue to increase

Housing prices continue to increase

Local home prices kept climbing through April as the local housing supply continued contracting, according to a report released today by the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors.

GLVAR reported that the median price for existing single-family homes sold in Southern Nevada during April through its Multiple Listing Service was $289,000. That’s up 3.2 percent from the previous month and up 16.1 percent from April of 2017.

“That’s a pretty big jump when you think about a typical marketplace,” said 2018 GLVAR President Chris Bishop, a longtime local Realtor. “And condo and town home prices are up even more than that over the past year.”

The median price of local condos and town homes sold in April was $155,000, up 19.2 percent from the same time last year.

One factor pushing up prices is the increasingly tight housing supply. Bishop said Southern Nevada has about a month-and-a-half supply of existing homes available for sale when a six-month supply is considered a balanced market.

“The biggest challenge we have in this market is available inventory, finding properties out there that people are willing to sell,” Bishop explained. “We just don’t have enough inventory to meet demand.”

By the end of April, GLVAR reported 3,816 single-family homes listed for sale without any sort of offer. That’s down 24.9 percent from one year ago. For condos and town homes, the 790 properties listed without offers in April represented a 23.6 percent increase from one year ago.

Bishop suspects more homeowners would consider selling if there were more homes on the market for them to buy. He cited recent surveys by the National Association of Realtors, showing more than 70 percent of U.S. homeowners think it’s a good to time to sell.

The low supply may also be slowing down local home sales, which have been running roughly even with last year’s sales pace so far this year after increasing in recent years. The total number of existing local homes, condos and town homes sold during April was 3,571. Compared to one year ago, April sales were up 0.4 percent for homes and up 4.5 percent for condos and town homes.

GLVAR reported that 27.3 percent of all local properties sold in April were purchased with cash. That compares to 27.5 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 years ago.

Meanwhile, the number of so-called distressed sales continues to decline. GLVAR reported that short sales and foreclosures combined accounted for 2.5 percent of all existing local home sales in April, down from 8.4 percent of all sales one year ago.

These GLVAR statistics include activity through the end of April 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.

Real estate team changes name to Ivan Sher Group

Shapiro &Sher Group, Nevada’s most successful real estate team with more than $300 million in sales last year, has changed its name to The Ivan Sher Group. The Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, Nevada Properties luxury team was founded by industry icon Florence Shapiro and Ivan Sher in 2005.

“Florence was more than just a partner and a friend,” Sher said. “She was a part of everything that I did, even though she passed a year and a half ago. Her heart and soul is still in the company and is honored in all that we do moving forward.”

The team is nationally recognized for its professionalism, expertise and integrity in the luxury real estate industry. It has been Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices’ top-selling team for 11 consecutive years and was recently recognized as the No. 2 team in the company’s entire global network.

“We could not be more excited to present the next chapter in the life of our company,” Sher said.

Sher said that The Ivan Sher Group is a collective of individuals who each influence their own network throughout the city.

“I consider each of my team members being the best in each category in what they do. People have said we’re unstoppable. That’s because we’re all passionate experts in our respective spaces,” he said.

The Ivan Sher Group works in all of the luxury communities and neighborhoods throughout the valley.

Don't miss the big stories. Like us on Facebook.
THE LATEST
NAIOP Southern Nevada announced its Spotlight Awards

NAIOP Southern Nevada, an organization representing commercial real estate developers, owners and related professionals in office, industrial, retail and mixed-use real estate, honored the best in the industry at its 27th annual NAIOP Spotlight Awards.

HOA board wants a cut of the community game money

Our new HOA board has decided, based on information from our new management company, that from here forward they will take 5 percent of the winnings from our clubs — poker, bunco and trivia.

REAL ESTATE BRIEFS: JAN. 6

NAIOP Southern Nevada has announced its newly elected officers and directors for 2024, led by President Cassie Catania-Hsu.

Summerlin single-story home lists for over $2M

Nestled along the picturesque Summerlin cliff line, a contemporary build sitting on a rare 14,000-square-foot lot has been listed in the Las Vegas market for $2,075,000.

Wells Fargo helps train veterans to rebuild homes

With a grant of $750,000, the Wells Fargo Foundation will fuel the creation of the Team Rubicon TRades Academy to address the need for credentialed contractors in communities nationwide.

REAL ESTATE BRIEFS: NOV. 4

The Commercial Alliance Las Vegas (CALV) announced its newly elected officers and directors for 2024, with industry leader Chris McGarey becoming president of the commercial real estate organization starting Jan. 1.

Home, condo prices same as one year ago

A recent Las Vegas Realtors report shows prices for local homes and condos holding steady, matching prices from one year ago.

Nevada Realtors announce officers for 2024

Nevada Realtors announced its newly elected officers who will lead the statewide association in 2024, led by incoming President Trevor Smith and President-elect Brandon Roberts.