Southern Nevada home sales on the rise

Despite a tight housing supply, more existing homes are selling in Southern Nevada.

According to a recent report by the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors, Southern Nevada home sales increased in August and are running well ahead of last year’s sales pace.

“It’s good to see that we sold more homes last month than we did during the previous month and year, even with this persistently tight inventory we’ve been dealing with this year,” said 2016 GLVAR President Scott Beaudry, a longtime local Realtor. “This shows that the demand for homes remains strong.”

According to GLVAR, the total of existing local homes, condominiums and townhomes sold in August was 3,789, up from 3,454 in August of 2015. Compared to the same month one year ago, 8.7 percent more homes, and 14.7 percent more condos and townhomes sold in August.

So far in 2016, Beaudry said local home sales are outpacing 2015 when GLVAR reported 38,578 single-family home, condominium, townhome and high-rise condo sales. That was more than in 2014, but fewer sales than during each of the previous five years.

GLVAR also reported the median price of existing single-family homes sold during August through its Multiple Listing Service was $235,000. That was down slightly from $236,000 in July, but still up 6.8 percent from $220,000 one year ago.

GLVAR reported the median price of local condominiums and townhomes, including high-rise condos, sold in August was $115,000. That was up 4.5 percent from $110,000 last year at this time.

A one-month fluctuation in the median price of a home is not unusual, Beaudry said, even in a housing market where homes have been appreciating steadily for a few years.

“We’re starting to see a more normal rate of appreciation, where prices are going up more gradually, as opposed to the double-digit increases we’ve seen the last few years,” Beaudry said.

At the same time, he said Southern Nevada still has less than a three-month supply of homes available for sale, when a six-month supply is considered to be a balanced market.

The total number of single-family homes listed for sale on GLVAR’s MLS in August was 13,222, down 2.8 percent from one year ago. GLVAR tracked a total of 2,366 condos, high-rise condos and townhomes listed for sale on its MLS in August, down 31.6 percent from one year ago.

By the end of August, GLVAR reported 7,594 single-family homes listed without any offer. That’s down 5.8 percent from one year ago.

For condos and townhomes, the 1,244 properties listed without offers in August represented a 46.4 percent decrease from one year ago.

Beaudry said it’s also encouraging to see continued declines in distressed sales and a corresponding increase in traditional home sales, in which lenders are not controlling the transaction.

In August, 4.1 percent of all local sales were short sales — when lenders allow borrowers to sell a home for less than what they owe on the mortgage. That’s down from 6.2 percent of all sales one year ago. Another 5.5 percent of all August sales were bank-owned, down from 7.0 percent one year ago.

GLVAR was founded in 1947 and provides its more than 12,500 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.