Las Vegas Home Prices Up 8 Percent Over Last Year

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According to the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors (GLVAR), local home prices and sales stabilized in May 2015 while the housing supply remained tight.
 
GLVAR reported the median price of homes sold through its Multiple Listing Service during May 2015 was $211,250, up 8.3 percent from $195,000 one year ago. Meanwhile, the median price of local condominiums and townhomes, including high-rise condos, sold in May was $112,000, up 9.8 percent from $102,000 one year ago.
 
"Overall, home prices have been stable this year, and demand is steady in our housing market," said 2015 GLVAR President Keith Lynam. "Inventory has been an issue. We have less than a three-month supply of homes available for sale, which is less than half the inventory we'd like to have for a balanced market. Some of our members who study the market estimate that most of the local homes currently listed for sale are actually overpriced. When homes are presentable and priced properly, sellers are usually getting offers within 30 days."
 
According to GLVAR, the total number of existing local homes, condominiums and townhomes sold in May was 3,363, down from 3,450 one year ago. Compared to May 2014, 2.6 percent fewer homes and 2.2 percent fewer condos and townhomes sold this May.
 
GLVAR has been reporting fewer distressed sales and more traditional home sales, where lenders are not controlling the transaction. In May, 7.3 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 7.9 percent one year ago. Another 8.0 percent of May sales were bank-owned, down from 9.1 percent from one year ago.
 
Lynam said REALTORS® remain concerned about the number of abandoned homes throughout Southern Nevada and are "hopeful banks will finally address one of the last dark clouds on the horizon."
 
Lynam said short sales could increase in 2015 if Congress votes to again extend the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007. In 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 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.
 
The total number of single-family homes listed for sale on GLVAR's Multiple Listing Service in May was 13,569, down 0.5 percent from one year ago. GLVAR tracked a total of 3,470 condos, high-rise condos and townhomes listed for sale on its MLS in May, down 4.8 percent from one year ago.
 
By the end of May, GLVAR reported 7,133 single-family homes listed without any sort of offer. That's up 7.8 percent from one year ago. For condos and townhomes, the 2,268 properties listed without offers in May represented a 0.4 percent increase from one year ago.
 
GLVAR said 29.1 percent of all local properties sold in May were purchased with cash. That's down from 40.2 percent one year ago. It's also well short of the February 2013 peak of 59.5 percent, suggesting that investors are still a factor in the local housing market but that their influence is waning with each passing month.
 
These GLVAR statistics include activity through the end of May 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 May was more than $676 million for homes and nearly $97 million for condos, high-rise condos and townhomes. Compared to one year ago, total sales volumes in May were up 1.9 percent for homes and up 16.9 percent for condos.

• In May, 71.1 percent of all existing local homes and 62.4 percent of all existing condos and townhomes sold within 60 days. That compares to one year ago, when 69.4 percent of all existing local homes and 62.7 percent of all existing condos and townhomes sold within 60 days.