Prices continue to rise for homes in Southern Nevada

The Pahrump housing market, and neighboring Las Vegas, both reached new heights in June, a trend that has gone on for the last several months.

The median home price for existing homes in June in Pahrump for a single-family home was $335,000—an all-time high for the valley, according to data from the Las Vegas Realtor multiple listing service. For Southern Nevada, the median price for homes also toppled records at $395,000.

According to LVR President Aldo Martinez, the local housing market will not slow down, as some sources have suggested, but the rising prices could effect prospective buyers.

“Housing prices are starting to exceed what many citizens of this community can afford, and any sign of slowing down aside from a seasonal adjustment is likely attributed to not as many buyers being able to afford a home at these prices or having the cash to come out of pocket due to lagging appraisals,” Martinez said. “We warned this would happen the closer we get to a median price of $400,000.”

An all-time high for Pahrump was set back in April when the median home price for the valley hit $325,000. June’s numbers broke through this record and increased it by over 3%, according to data from LVR.

Pahrump saw an increase of 26.4% over the same time a year ago in June 2020, when the median home price was $265,000. In June 2020, 61 existing homes were sold as tracked by LVR’s listing service; this compares to the 81 that sold last month.

For Southern Nevada, median home prices saw an increase of 21.5% in June over the same time a year ago when the median home price sat at $325,000.

A shortage of housing is still a reality in the Southern Nevada market.

Martinez said the shortage of homes for sale does present a challenge for buyers but has created an opportunity for sellers. He notes that a six-month supply of housing is considered a traditional balanced market, though the area has rarely seen this level of inventory.

According to Martinez, the pace of local home sales in June in comparison to the number of existing homes available for sale without offers is less than a month’s worth of supply.

LVR reported that at the end of June, 2,454 single-family homes listed for sale didn’t have any offer on them. This number was down by 51.7% over the same time in 2020, but Martinez noted that the number of homes listed without offers increased for the fourth straight month in June.

LVR states that 4,486 existing local homes, condos and townhomes sold in June. This was an increase of 43.8% for homes and 100.6% for condos and townhomes over last year.

The pace of local home sales is on track to exceed last year’s total, LVR said.

The Southern Nevada housing market hit a post-recession bottom in early 2012 and has since seen steady year-over-year growth.

The area has been more in line with national trends since the start of the pandemic, according to Martinez.

Martinez attributes the price growth the area has seen in recent months to a shortage of homes available for sale, strong demand and low mortgage rates, which are at a historic low.

In addition to these pressures, builders are not constructing enough homes to meet the current demand and homeowners are staying in their homes longer and are slower to move than in past years.

For buyers, Martinez says to be patient and persistent, as many homes with multiple offers usually end up back on the market and “are then awarded to the next buyer in line.”

For cash sales, LVR states that 30.4% of all local property sales were in cash. This is up 15.7% from a year earlier when the housing market was still adjusting to the onset of the pandemic.

This is still below the peak of cash buyers in March 2013 when 59.5% of the sales were in cash.

Investors have had an increase in interest in the Las Vegas market.

Martinez said that “the number of buyers who will have to revert to renting because they are no longer able to purchase at these prices is the primary reason so many more investors jumped into our market at the start of this year. They foresaw a healthy rental market in the future, and it’s drawing near.”

The number of distressed sales in the area remained historically low in June, with LVR pointing to eviction and foreclosure bans that are still in place.

The number of short sales and foreclosures accounted for 0.7% of the existing local property sales in June. This was below June 2020’s 2.2% of sales, 2.6% in 2019 and 6.3% in 2018.

Martinez said that the current percentages may increase once the government moratoriums are lifted.

Las Vegas Realtors, formerly the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors, has over 16,500 members who are provided education, training and political representation. Members of LVR are in Pahrump, Las Vegas and beyond.

Contact Editor Jeffrey Meehan at jmeehan@pvtimes.com