Southern Nevada housing market sees prices rising, supply falling

A report released by Las Vegas Realtors shows the local housing market started 2021 with home prices still rising and the housing supply still shrinking.

LVR reported on Feb. 8 that the median price of existing single-family homes sold in Southern Nevada through its Multiple Listing Service during January held steady at $345,000. That matches the all-time record set in November and tied in December of 2020. It’s also up 13.1% from a median price of $305,000 in January 2020.

Local condos and townhomes also posted double-digit gains compared to one year ago, selling for a median price of $193,000 in January. That’s up 10.3% from $175,000 in January of 2020.

“The local housing market continues to perform better during this pandemic than most of us expected,” LVR President Aldo Martinez said. “This month’s statistics are especially encouraging when you consider that January is usually one of the slowest months for both home sales and prices.”

The Pahrump market, individually, also saw a rise in its median home price in January over the same time a year earlier. The median home price for January in Pahrump was $296,000 with 38 units sold for single family homes.

That compares to January 2020 when 43 single family homes were sold at a median price of $245,000—a rise of nearly 21% for that month.

General housing market in Southern Nevada

Martinez, a longtime local Realtor who took over as president of the association on Jan. 1, said the number of local homes available for sale remains well below the six-month supply considered to be a balanced market. In fact, he said the sales pace in January equates to less than a one-month supply of existing homes available for sale, creating a housing shortage.

“There has been a lot of news lately about the local and national housing supply being at or near an all-time low,” he said. “But this also presents a great opportunity for sellers, who’ve never seen a better time to sell their home for top dollar.”

By the end of January, LVR reported 2,315 single-family homes listed for sale without any sort of offer. That’s down 52.8% from one year ago. For condos and townhomes, the 847 properties listed without offers in January represent a 40.3% drop from one year ago.

LVR reported a total of 3,262 existing local homes, condos and townhomes were sold during January. Compared to the same time last year, January sales were up 15.5% for homes and up 5.4% for condos and townhomes.

According to LVR, the total number of existing local homes, condos, townhomes and other residential properties sold in Southern Nevada during 2020 was 41,617. That’s up from 41,269 total sales in 2019. By comparison, LVR reported 42,876 total sales in 2018 and 45,388 in 2017.

For years, Southern Nevada made national news for riding a real estate roller-coaster, with pre-recession home prices soaring to record highs and then falling faster than almost anywhere else in the U.S. during the Great Recession. Since the pandemic started last year, the local housing market has been more in line with national trends, with a shortage of homes available for sale and historically low mortgage interest rates contributing to increasing sales and record prices.

During January, LVR reported that 21.3% of all local property sales were purchased with cash. That compares to 24.3% one year ago. That’s well below the February 2013 peak of 59.5%, suggesting that cash buyers and investors have been less active in the local housing market.

Despite the coronavirus crisis and economic downturn, the number of so-called distressed sales remains near historically low levels. LVR reported that short sales and foreclosures combined accounted for just 1.2% of all existing local property sales in January. That compares to 2.7% of all sales one year ago, 2.8% two years ago, 4.3% three years ago and 11% four years ago.

These LVR statistics include activity through the end of January 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.

The total value of local real estate transactions tracked through the MLS during January was more than $1.1 billion for homes and nearly $131 million for condos, high-rise condos and townhomes. Compared to one year ago, total sales values in January were up 37.9% for homes and up 12.2% for condos and townhomes.

Homes have been selling faster than they were one year earlier. In January, 80.7% of all existing local homes and 75.5% of all existing local condos and townhomes sold within 60 days.

That compares to one year ago, when 68.8% of all existing local homes and 66.2% of all existing local condos and townhomes sold within 60 days.