LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — As the housing market continues to rebound from the pandemic, it's a different story for local renters and home buyers.
According to the Nevada State Apartment Association, rents across the valley have gone down by 2.2% in the last year. The association said the average rent in Las Vegas is now $1,430, which is below the national average of $1,660.
The association released a report on Wednesday that shows experts are predicting there will be more available rental units due to weaker demand and more complexes opening. It's a steady trend as the report states vacancies were sitting at about 4% in 2021 and have since risen to 9.6%. That number is expected to go even higher by the end of the year.
The association said around 8,300 units are under construction across the valley and when that's complete, it would expand existing rental unit inventory by 4.6%.
On Tuesday, the Las Vegas Realtors released a report that stated home sales are continuing to slide while home prices are rebounding.
The report states the median price of single-family homes sold in Southern Nevada in April 2023 was $430,000. That's up compared to March but down from $475,000 a year ago.
However, the report also shows that fewer homes are being sold and are currently on pace to be lower than they were in 2022. When looking at April 2022 and April 2023, sales were down 34.6% for homes and down 31.1% for condos and townhomes. By the end of April, the Realtors said single-family homes listed for sale without any sort of offer was up 53.1% compared to this time last year.
This is a national trend and experts said that although more homes are hitting the market, they don't expect home prices to come down.
"Housing inventory is about a quarter of what it was in 2008," said Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors. "Distressed property sales are almost non-existent, at just 2%, and nowhere near the 30% mark seen during the housing crash. Short sales are almost impossible because of the significant price appreciation of the last two years."
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