Home Sales, Housing Prices Keep Rising in Greater Las Vegas

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According to the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors, an increasingly hot local Las Vegas housing market showed no signs of cooling off in July 2017, with home prices and sales continuing to rise while the housing supply keeps shrinking.
 
GLVAR reported that the median price of existing single-family homes sold during July through its Multiple Listing Service (MLS) increased to $260,000. That was up 10.2 percent from July 2016. Meanwhile, the median price of local condos and townhomes sold in July jumped to $138,000, up 20.0 percent from July 2016.
 
GLVAR President David J. Tina said the demand for housing continues to exceed supply. At the current sales pace, he said Southern Nevada still has less than a two-month supply of existing homes available for sale. A six-month supply is considered to be a balanced market. The supply is even tighter for lower-priced homes, condos and townhomes, he added.
 
"Our housing supply isn't necessarily drying up," he explained. "People are still listing their homes for sale. We're just selling so many homes at such a rapid rate."
 
Tina said the current housing market can be challenging for prospective home buyers, especially those looking for homes in lower price ranges. He advises buyers to be aggressive, act quickly and be prepared to "put a ring on it" when they find a home they like.
 
By the end of July, GLVAR reported 4,995 single-family homes listed for sale without any sort of offer. That's down 31.9 percent from one year ago. For condos and townhomes, the 625 properties listed without offers in July represented a 48.4 percent drop from one year ago.
 
Meanwhile, local home sales continue to increase compared to the same time last year. The total number of existing local homes, condos and townhomes sold in July was 3,798, up from 3,447 in July 2016. Compared to one year ago, sales were up 10.8 percent for homes and up 7.5 percent for condos and townhomes.
 
According to GLVAR, total sales so far in 2017 continue to outpace 2016, when 41,720 total properties were sold in Southern Nevada.
 
"Home sales have been very strong this year," Tina said. "In fact, at the rate we're going, 2017 is on pace to be our best year for local home sales since at least 2012, and one our five best years ever."
 
GLVAR said 24.6 percent of all local properties sold in July were purchased with cash, down from 25.8 percent in July 2016. That's well short of the February 2013 peak of 59.5 percent, indicating that cash buyers and investors are still more active in Southern Nevada than in most markets, but that their influence has generally been waning.
 
For several years, GLVAR has been reporting fewer distressed sales and more traditional home sales, where lenders are not controlling the transaction. That trend continued in July, when 3.0 percent of all local sales were short sales - which occur when lenders allow borrowers to sell a home for less than what they owe on the mortgage. That compares to 5.7 percent of all sales in July 2016. Another 3.4 percent of all July sales were bank-owned, down from 5.9 percent one year ago.
 
These GLVAR statistics include activity through the end of July 2017. GLVAR 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. Other highlights include:
 

• The total value of local real estate transactions tracked through the MLS during July was nearly $953 million for homes and nearly $104 million for condos, high-rise condos and townhomes. Compared to one year ago, total sales volumes in July were up 21.7 percent for homes, and up 38.6 percent for condos and townhomes.

• Homes and condos continued to sell faster than last year at this time. In July, 82.2 percent of all existing local homes and 87.7 percent of all existing local condos and townhomes sold within 60 days. That compares to one year ago, when 74.9 percent of all existing local homes and 68.8 percent of all existing local condos and townhomes sold within 60 days.