Las Vegas Enjoys Double-Digit Home Price Appreciation Over Last Year

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According to the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors, local home sales and prices posted double-digit increases in June compared to one year ago.

GLVAR reported the median price of homes sold during June 2015 was $220,000, up 10.1 percent from $199,900 one year ago. Meanwhile, the median price of local condominiums and townhomes, including high-rise condos, sold in June was $115,000. That was up 5.5 percent from $109,000 one year ago.

"It's good for our local homeowners when prices are appreciating at a healthy pace like this and more homes are selling," said 2015 GLVAR President Keith Lynam. "Of course, we still have some challenges. We've been dealing with less than a three-month supply of homes available for sale. That's less than half of what we'd like to have for a balanced market. We also realize there are too many abandoned homes throughout Southern Nevada, though we see signs that banks may finally be doing more to address this issue."

According to GLVAR, the total number of existing local homes, condominiums and townhomes sold in June was 3,693, up from 3,274 one year ago. Compared to June 2014, 14.2 percent more homes and 6.3 percent more condos and townhomes sold this June.

Since 2013, GLVAR has been reporting fewer distressed sales and more traditional home sales, where lenders are not controlling the transaction. In June, 6.7 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 10.8 percent one year ago. Another 7.6 percent of June sales were bank-owned, down from 10.1 percent one year ago.

The median price of single-family homes sold as part of a short sale in June was $165,000, down from $170,000 one year ago. The median price of bank-owned homes sold in June was $170,000, up from $150,000 one year ago.

Lynam said short sales could still increase 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 June was 13,740, down 0.7 percent from one year ago. GLVAR tracked a total of 3,474 condos, high-rise condos and townhomes listed for sale on its MLS in June, down 6.5 percent from one year ago.

By the end of June, GLVAR reported 7,432 single-family homes listed without any sort of offer. That's up 4.3 percent from one year ago. For condos and townhomes, the 2,329 properties listed without offers in June represented a 0.2 percent decrease from one year ago.

GLVAR said 28.4 percent of all local properties sold in June were purchased with cash. That's down from 29.1 in May and from 34.7 percent one year ago. It's well short of the February 2013 peak of 59.5 percent, indicating that cash buyers and 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 June 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 June was nearly $794 million for homes and more than $100 million for condos, high-rise condos and townhomes. Compared to one year ago, total sales volumes in June were up 23.5 percent for homes and up 13.2 percent for condos.

• In June, 68.6 percent of all existing local homes and 66.6 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 67.3 percent of all existing condos and townhomes sold within 60 days.