Greater Las Vegas Home Prices Dip in October

The Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors is reporting this week that local home prices slipped in October, with more homes on the market and fewer people electing to buy homes in Southern Nevada compared to the same time last year.

GLVAR reported that the median price for existing single-family homes sold in Southern Nevada was $295,025. That was down 1.7 percent from September - when the median home price hit $300,000 for the first time in more than 11 years. October's median home price was still up 12.2 percent from $263,000 in October of 2017.

The median price of local condos and townhomes sold in October was $174,000. That's up 24.3 percent from the same time last year.

"Local housing prices are still appreciating at a healthy rate year over year, even though they're not going up as fast as they were a few years ago," said GLVAR President Chris Bishop. "Although we sold more homes in October than we did in September, we're on pace to sell fewer homes this year than we did last year. At the same time, potential buyers should be encouraged to see more homes on the market."

Local home prices have been rising since 2012. But as Bishop pointed out, they still have not reached their all-time peak. According to GLVAR, the median price of existing single-family homes sold in Southern Nevada peaked at $315,000 in June of 2006. Local home prices hit a post-recession bottom of $118,000 in January of 2012.

After seeing the local housing supply shrink over the past few years, Bishop said "we're almost up to a three-month housing supply, which means we're getting closer to a more balanced market."

By the end of October, GLVAR reported 6,919 single-family homes listed for sale without any sort of offer. That's up 44.3 percent from one year ago. For condos and townhomes, the 1,562 properties listed without offers in October represented a hefty 102.9 percent increase from one year ago.

The total number of existing local homes, condos and townhomes sold during October was 3,335. Compared to one year ago, October sales were down 9.6 percent for homes and down 2.1 percent for condos and townhomes.

GLVAR reported that 25.6 percent of all local properties sold in October were purchased with cash. That compares to 26.9 percent one year ago. That's well below the February 2013 peak of 59.5 percent, suggesting that cash buyers and investors are still active in the local housing market, but have been playing a much smaller role than they were five or six years ago.

The number of so-called distressed sales continues to drop each year. GLVAR reported that short sales and foreclosures combined accounted for just 3.0 percent of all existing local home sales in October, down from 5.2 percent of all sales one year ago.

Las Vegas market highlights include:

• The total value of local real estate transactions tracked through the MLS during October was more than $943 million for homes and nearly $118 million for condos, high-rise condos and townhomes. Compared to one year ago, total sales volumes in October were up 1.5 percent for homes and up 17.0 percent for condos and townhomes.

• Homes and condos continue to sell quickly, though that pace has begun to level off in recent months. In October, 85.8 percent of all existing local homes and 87.2 percent of all existing local condos and townhomes sold within 60 days. That compares to one year ago, when 81.9 percent of all existing local homes and 89.0 percent of all existing local condos and townhomes sold within 60 days.