Home prices rise in Southern Nevada, Pahrump

Home prices were on the rise in Southern Nevada, including in Pahrump, in March.

The median price for existing single-family homes sold in Southern Nevada through the Las Vegas Realtors’ multiple listing service in March was $363,000, up 13.8% ($319,000) from a year ago.

For Southern Nevada, March’s median price breaks an all-time record set in February, which was $355,000.

In Pahrump, the median home price was $282,500, up from $264,900, or over 6.6%, during the same time a year ago.

“This is the first month where our housing statistics show a year-over-year comparison to the beginning of the pandemic,” said 2021 LVR President Aldo Martinez. “At the rate we’re going, we could see even greater gains in home prices and sales next month, since the housing market stalled briefly last April before roaring back since then.”

The increase in home prices in Southern Nevada has come amid a tight supply of homes in the area.

According to Martinez, the shortage of local homes continues to present a challenge for homebuyers and a “rare” opportunity for those selling homes.

A six-month supply is considered a balanced market, where the pace of local home sales in March compared to the number of existing homes available for sale equated to a one-month supply.

New supply is not expected to offset the tight supply.

According to Martinez, he doesn’t expect much relief from homebuilders who cite rising lumber costs, increasing government regulations and lack of land and labor as for some of the reasons they aren’t building more homes.

Housing supply

For single-family homes, LVR reported 1,772 homes listed without any sort of offer at the end of March. The number was up from February, but down 68.8% from 2020.

”For condos and townhomes, the 597 properties listed without offers in March represent a 63.3% drop from one year ago,” LVR’s release states.

A total of 4,724 existing local homes, condos and townhomes were sold in March, where sales were up 35.1% for homes and up 39.8% for condos and townhomes.

Home sales are on pace to exceed the pace of 2020 when the number of existing local homes, condos and townhomes sold in Southern Nevada was 41,617. In 2019, 41,269 homes were sold.

Recovery since the Great Recession

Southern Nevada hit a post-recession bottom in early 2012, but has seen steady year-over-year growth since then, which averaged 6-10% annually.

Martinez says that the Southern Nevada housing market has been more in line with national trends since the pandemic began, the market is, “exceeding everyone’s expectations.” He attributes “the current abnormal price growth” to a shortage of homes available for sale, steady demand and relatively low mortgage interest rates.

“The pandemic has contributed to the supply shortage due in part to homeowners being out of work, and therefore unable to upgrade even if they wanted to unless they could pay cash,” he added. “In addition, reports from the National Association of Realtors show homeowners are staying longer in their homes, up from five to seven years in recent history to closer to seven to nine years today, which could also be attributed to lower than normal interest rates.”

Distressed properties

LVR reported that 24.1% of all local property sales were purchased in cash in March, up 21.2% from a year ago. Cash sales peaked in March 2013 when it was 59.5% of the mix of sales.

The number of “so-called” distressed sales remains historically low despite the economic downturn coinciding with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, LVR said in its release.

Short sales and foreclosures combined accounted for 0.6% of all existing local property sales in March. “That compares to 2.0% of all sales one year ago, 2.5% of all sales two years ago, 2.9% three years ago, and 9.8% four years ago,” LVR states in its release.

Martinez explained, “these low numbers are skewed by the number of homeowners who have filed for mortgage forbearance,” adding that “economists suggest many of these homeowners may have difficulty coming out of forbearance and expect foreclosure numbers to rise above pre-pandemic rates.”

LVR statistics include activity through the end of March 2021. LVR 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.

Las Vegas Realtors (formerly known as GLVAR) was founded in 1947 and provides its more than 15,000 local members with education, training and political representation. LVR’s membership includes Las Vegas, Pahrump and other communities in the area.

Contact Editor Jeffrey Meehan at jmeehan@pvtimes.com