Have fence-sitters missed the boat in the housing market?

Q: Home prices have been going up pretty fast this year. Do you think people who have been on the fence about buying a house have already missed the boat? Is it too late to get in on this latest boom?

— Lanette R., Las Vegas

A: The short answer to your question is no. I don’t think people have “missed the boat” on today’s improving housing market if they haven’t bought a home by now.

At the same time, if you or someone you know is thinking about buying a home in Southern Nevada, I wouldn’t wait any longer than necessary.

Here’s why I say that. As readers of this column probably know, local home prices have been rising since early 2012. Like most housing experts, I’m betting that prices will continue to go up from here — though perhaps at a slower rate than the past 18 months.

According to statistics from the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors, the median price of a single-family home sold here in May was $170,000. That was up 32.8 percent from one year ago. That’s a pretty big increase in just one year.

I’ve heard some people start to call this recent run-up another housing boom. A few pundits have even speculated about whether we could be in for another housing bubble.

We’re all entitled to our opinions, but I’m not sure that either term applies just yet.

Keep this recent appreciation in perspective. We have a long way to go before we get back to $315,000, which is what the median price of an existing single-family home was here when prices peaked in June 2006.

Mortgage interest rates are another factor. They’ve been near record lows for some time but have been inching up lately, with a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage going from about 3.3 percent in early May to about 3.9 percent in early June. Most experts don’t see these rates going back down, but add that they’re still historically low.

With only about a five-week supply of local homes available for sale, I know many would-be buyers are struggling to find a home in today’s housing market. It’s one of the biggest issues facing homeowners and Realtors.

At least some relief may be in sight. Our legislative team from the Nevada Association of Realtors tells me some new laws passed by the 2013 Legislature could ease this housing shortage we’ve been dealing with for more than a year.

If they’re right, and I certainly hope so, prospective buyers will have more homes to choose from in the near future.

In the end, I suppose the answer to your question depends on how you look at it.

If you’ve been waiting for the mythical bottom of the local housing market, I think you missed it. As it turns out, local home prices bottomed out in late 2011.

But if you have a traditional attitude about buying a home that you plan to live in for many years, then it’s less important to determine whether you’re buying at the statistical bottom of the market, during the latest run-up in prices or somewhere further along the home price curve.

Send your real estate questions to me at ask@glvar.org.

Dave Tina is the 2013 president of the GLVAR, and has worked in the real estate industry for more than 35 years. GLVAR has more than 11,000 members. Email questions to ask@glvar.org. For more information, visit www.lasvegasrealtor.com.