Chris Bishop, 2018 GLVAR president
Local home prices rose again in February, while sales slowed
down amid a shrinking housing supply, according to a recent
report from the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors.
GLVAR reported that the median price for existing single-family
homes sold in Southern Nevada during February through its
Multiple Listing Service was $275,000. That’s up 3.8 percent from
January and up 14.6 percent from February 2017. The median
price of local condos and town homes sold in February was
$150,000, up 27.1 percent from the same time last year.
Meanwhile, the total number of existing local homes, condos and
town homes sold during February fell to 2,704. Compared to one
year earlier, February sales were down 5.4 percent for homes but
up 1.8 percent for condos and town homes.
“Our shrinking housing supply may finally be catching up to us
and slowing down our home sales,” said 2018 GLVAR President
Chris Bishop, a longtime local Realtor. “Sales have continued to
go up over the last few years, even as our inventory has been
going down. But with fewer homes on the market each month, it
seems like it was only a matter of time before it started to affect
sales.” He said Southern Nevada still has less than a two-month supply
of existing homes available for sale, when a six-month supply is
considered a balanced market.
By the end of February, GLVAR reported 3,653 single-family
homes listed for sale without any sort of offer. That’s down 34.3
percent from one year earlier. For condos and town homes, the
679 properties listed without offers in February represented a 10.4
percent drop from one year earlier.
The inventory of condos and town homes listed for sale is as low as it has been since 2004,
Bishop added. February’s sales dip is a departure from the recent trend in home
sales, which have been increasing over the past few years. In
fact, GLVAR reported that the 46,598 existing local properties
sold during 2017 made it the third best sales year on record and
the best year for existing local home sales since 2011.
GLVAR reported that 32.4 percent of all local properties sold in
February were purchased with cash, compared to 31.4 percent
one year earlier. That’s well below the February 2013 peak of
59.5 percent, indicating that cash buyers and investors are still
active but playing a much smaller role in the local housing market
than they were five years ago.
At the same time, the number of so-called distressed sales
continues to decline. GLVAR reported that short sales and
foreclosures combined accounted for 3.8 percent of all existing
local home sales in February, compared to 10.6 percent of all
sales one year earlier.
These GLVAR statistics include activity through the end of
February 2018. GLVAR 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:
■ The total value of local real estate transactions tracked through
the MLS during February was more than $714 million for homes
and nearly $92 million for condos, high-rise condos and town
homes. Compared to one year earlier, total sales volumes in
February were up 15.0 percent for homes and up 24.8 percent for
condos and town homes.
■ Homes and condos continued to sell faster than last year at this
time. In February, 79.8 percent of all existing local homes and
86.4 percent of all existing local condos and town homes sold
within 60 days. That compares to February 2017, when 69.6
percent of all existing local homes and 76.5 percent of all existing
local condos and town homes sold within 60 days.
GLVAR was founded in 1947 and provides its more than 14,000
local members with education, training and political
representation. The local representative of the National
Association of Realtors, GLVAR is the largest professional
organization in Southern Nevada. Each GLVAR member receives
the highest level of professional training and must abide by a strict
code of ethics.
For more information, visit LasVegasRealtor.com.
Published on 2018-04-02 09:47:35
