Las Vegas Home Prices Holding Firm in November

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According to Las Vegas Association of Realtors, instead of cooling down with the winter weather, local Las Vegas home prices held steady through November 2015.
 
GLVAR reported the median price of existing single-family homes sold in Southern Nevada during November through its Multiple Listing Service (MLS) was $220,000, up 8.9 percent from $202,000 one year ago. November marked the fourth straight month that GLVAR reported a median home price of $220,000.
 
"I can't remember the last time our median home price stayed the same for four straight months," said GLVAR President Keith Lynam. "Local home prices have been so steady this year that we're starting to run out of synonyms for stable."
 
Lynam added that local home prices and sales usually go down a bit heading into the holidays and during the winter months, but that he wouldn't be surprised this year to see prices stay fairly stable heading into 2016.
 
He noted that local home prices are now remarkably close to what they are nationally, as the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported last week that the median price of existing single-family homes sold nationwide during October was $219,600.
 
Meanwhile, GLVAR said the median price of local condominiums and townhomes, including high-rise condos, sold in November was $116,000. That's up 4.1 percent from $111,450 one year ago.
 
According to GLVAR, the total number of existing local homes, condominiums and townhomes sold in November was 2,476, down slightly from 2,483 one year ago. Compared to November 2014, 2.9 percent fewer homes but 11.3 percent more condos and townhomes sold this November. Local home sales so far this year remain ahead of last year's pace, Lynam said.
 
As for other local housing trends, GLVAR has been reporting fewer distressed sales and more traditional home sales, where lenders are not controlling the transaction. In November, 7.1 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's down from 9.6 percent one year ago. Another 6.7 percent of all November sales were bank-owned, down from 8.7 percent one year ago.
 
The median price of single-family homes sold as part of a short sale in November was $170,000, the same as it was one year ago. The median price of bank-owned homes sold in November was $165,700, compared to $155,000 one year ago.
 
Lynam said short sales could still increase if Congress votes this month to again extend the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007, as Realtors have advocated. Last December, Congress voted to retroactively extend the tax break it had allowed to expire at the end of 2013 to help distressed homeowners who sold properties in 2014. Unless Congress extends this act again through 2015, any amount of money a bank writes off in agreeing to sell a home as part of a short sale this year may become taxable when sellers file their income taxes.
 
As for the number of homes available for sale, Lynam said the local housing supply remained relatively tight. The total number of single-family homes listed for sale on GLVAR's MLS in November was 13,169, down 1.9 percent from one year ago. GLVAR tracked a total of 3,391 condos, high-rise condos and townhomes listed for sale on its MLS in November, down 3.9 percent from one year ago.
 
By the end of November, GLVAR reported 7,772 single-family homes listed without any sort of offer. That's down 5.2 percent from one year ago. For condos and townhomes, the 2,282 properties listed without offers in November represented a 7.2 percent decrease from one year ago.
 
GLVAR said 33.2 percent of all local properties sold in November were purchased with cash, up from 31.9 percent one year ago. Still, 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 on the local housing market has been waning.
 
These GLVAR statistics include activity through the end of November 2015. GLVAR distributes such statistics each month based on data collected through its MLS, which does not necessarily account for newly constructed homes sold by local builders or for sale by owners. Other highlights include:

• The monthly value of local real estate transactions tracked through the MLS during November was more than $530 million for homes and nearly $81 million for condos, high-rise condos and townhomes. Compared to one year ago, total sales volumes in November were up 7.3 percent for homes and 24.2 percent for condos and townhomes.

 

• In November, 68.2 percent of all existing local homes and 64.2 percent of all existing condos and townhomes sold within 60 days. That compares to one year ago, when 67.1 percent of all existing local homes and 64.3 percent of all existing condos and townhomes sold within 60 days.