Las Vegas Housing Market Surges Forward in Anticipation for Summer

More good news for the Las Vegas housing market. Stability and low prices have been the theme for months, which is a welcomed sight after some turbulent times. For March, the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors (GLVAR) reported the median price of single family was $205,000, unchanged from February, but an increase of 5% from 12 months ago. The condominium and townhome market experienced a significant uptick coming in at $115,000, representing a 9.5% increase from last month and a 14% increase from one year ago.

In total, 3,358 Las Vegas homes, Las Vegas townhomes, and Las Vegas condominiums sold in southern Nevada compared to 2,452 in February, and up nearly 250 homes from this time last year. The percentage gains are staggering, with sales increasing 37.8% for homes and 33.7% for townhouses and condos. And compared with one year ago, the increases are 6.7% and 17.1% respectively.

Real estate is very seasonal, so it is expected that sales will increase along with the temperatures, but this is the biggest sales spike we’ve seen during this time of year since 2006. As I’ve been saying for months, when prices are stable and real estate interest rates are low, people are going to buy. Another factor could be homeowners are now pricing their properties at realistic levels, for a few months I was seeing sellers overprice homes.

 While this is definitely an encouraging sign, we’ve yet to see if this is going to become a trend or more of an outlier event. With the increased pace of sales, the inventory in the market is down to about three months – a six month supply is considered balanced.

In more good news, Las Vegas short sales are continuing to decline every month. In March, 8.3% of local real estate sales were short sales, which is down from 9.3% in February and 12.9% twelve months ago. Bank controlled sales were 9.3% in February, down from 9.7% in February.

 Cash sales are also on the decline, suggesting that investors are buying less and less in southern Nevada. 32.4% of homes were cash buys compared to 37.4% last month, which is a considerable drop from the 59.5% peak reached in February 2013.

 In an important metric for sellers, 61.4% of homes sold in Las Vegas were within 60 days and 60.9% of condos and townhomes sold in that same time period. Those figures represent an increase from 57.3% and 55.6% last month.

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I’m definitely encouraged by these statistics. The numbers suggest buyers and sellers are both reaping the benefits of a great southern Nevada real estate market. I’ll keep my eyes and ears open and continue to track trends and report them to you all. In the meantime, please reach out with any questions you have about buying or selling a home in the Las Vegas Valley. I’d be happy to talk with you.

Best,