LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — A report released Monday by Las Vegas Realtors shows local home prices hitting a new record high while sales are increasing and the housing supply keeps shrinking.
LVR reported that the median price of existing single-family homes sold in Southern Nevada through its Multiple Listing Service (MLS) during February was $355,000. That breaks the record set in November and tied in December 2020 and again in January 2021.
February’s median home price is up 12.3% from $316,000 during the same month last year.
Local condos and townhomes also posted double-digit gains compared to one year ago, selling for a median price of $197,500 in February. That’s up 12.9% from $175,000 in February of 2020.
“As we’ve been saying for months, our housing market continues to perform better than most people expected when this pandemic started,” said 2021 LVR President Aldo Martinez. “Still, we’re looking forward to getting through this, to stabilizing the economy and increasing consumer confidence, so people feel more comfortable buying and selling homes and moving when the need arises.”
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Martinez says the number of local homes available for sale remains well below the six-month supply considered a balanced market. And the sales pace in February equates to less than a one-month supply of existing homes available for sale. While this creates challenges for potential buyers, he said it also “presents a rare opportunity for home sellers, who have never seen a better time to sell their home for top dollar.”
By the end of February, LVR reported 1,677 single-family homes listed for sale without any offer. That’s down 60.4% from one year ago.
For condos and townhomes, the 675 properties listed without offers in February represent a 44.4% drop from one year ago.
LVR reported a total of 3,489 existing local homes, condos and townhomes were sold during February. Compared to the same time last year, February sales were up 12.0% for houses and up 16.8% for condos and townhomes.
According to LVR, the total number of existing local homes, condos, townhomes and other residential properties sold in Southern Nevada during 2020 was 41,617. That’s up from 41,269 total sales in 2019.
By comparison, LVR reported 42,876 total sales in 2018 and 45,388 in 2017.
For years, Southern Nevada made headlines for riding a real estate roller-coaster, with pre-recession home prices soaring to record highs and then falling faster than almost anywhere else in the U.S. during the Great Recession. Since the pandemic started last year, the local housing market has been more in line with national trends, with a shortage of homes available for sale and historically low mortgage interest rates contributing to increasing sales and record prices.
In February, LVR reported 26.0% of all local property sales were purchased with cash. That compares to 25.1% one year ago. That’s well below the February 2013 peak of 59.5%, suggesting that cash buyers and investors have been less active in the local housing market than in past years.
Despite the coronavirus crisis and economic downturn, the number of so-called distressed sales remains near historically low levels.
LVR reported that short sales and foreclosures combined accounted for just 0.6% of all existing local property sales in February. That compares to 2.5% of all sales one year ago, 2.6% two years ago, 3.8% three years ago and 10.6% four years ago.
These LVR statistics include activity through the end of February 2021. LVR distributes statistics each month based on data collected through its MLS, which does not necessarily account for newly constructed homes sold by local builders or homes for sale by owners. Other highlights include:
- The total value of local real estate transactions tracked through the MLS during February was more than $1.2 billion for homes and more than $158 million for condos, high-rise condos and townhomes. Compared to one year ago, total sales values in February were up 33.0% for homes and up 36.5% for condos and townhomes.
- Homes have been selling faster than they were one year earlier. In February, 81.9% of all existing local homes and 77.4% of all existing local condos and townhomes sold within 60 days. That compares to one year ago, when 68.5% of all existing local homes and 66.9% of all existing local condos and townhomes sold within 60 days.
