GLVAR Housing Statistics for April 2016
LAS VEGAS – The Greater Las Vegas Association of REALTORS (GLVAR) reported that Southern Nevada’s housing market is becoming increasingly consistent, with local home prices hovering around $220,000 while more homes continue to sell despite a very tight supply.
GLVAR reported the median price of existing single-family homes sold in Southern Nevada during April through its Multiple Listing Service (MLS) was $220,600. That was up 3.8 percent from $212,568 one year ago.
Meanwhile, GLVAR said the median price of local condominiums and townhomes, including high-rise condos, sold in April was $119,900. That was up 4.3 percent from $115,000 one year ago.
“I can’t remember a time when our housing market was so stable for so long. As local home prices stay so consistent month after month, we’re now seeing smaller gains when compared to the same time last year,” said 2016 GLVAR President Scott Beaudry, a longtime local REALTOR. “At the same time, our local housing supply is still very tight, but at least it didn’t get any tighter.”
According to GLVAR, the total number of existing local homes, condominiums and townhomes sold in April was 3,518, up from 3,379 in April of 2015. Compared to the same month one year ago, 2.4 percent more homes, but 0.7 percent fewer condos and townhomes, sold in April.
So far this year, Beaudry said local home sales are ahead of the pace from 2015, when GLVAR reported a total of 38,578 single-family home, condominium, townhome and high-rise condo sales. That was more than in 2014, but fewer sales than during each of the previous five years.
At the current sales pace, he said Southern Nevada still has less than a three-month supply of homes available for sale, when a six-month supply is considered to be a balanced market.
The total number of single-family homes listed for sale on GLVAR’s MLS in April was 13,799, up 0.4 percent from one year ago. GLVAR tracked a total of 3,581 condos, high-rise condos and townhomes listed for sale on its MLS in April, down 1.2 percent from one year ago.
By the end of April, GLVAR reported 7,357 single-family homes listed without any sort of offer. That’s up 0.8 percent from one year ago. For condos and townhomes, the 2,231 properties listed without offers in April represented an 8.5 percent decrease from one year ago.
GLVAR continued to report declines in distressed sales and a corresponding increase in traditional home sales, where lenders are not controlling the transaction. In April, 4.5 percent of all local sales were short sales – when lenders allow borrowers to sell a home for less than what they owe on the mortgage. That’s down from 7.2 percent of all sales one year ago. Another 7.1 percent of all April sales were bank-owned, the same as in March and down from 8.3 percent one year ago.
The median price of single-family homes sold as part of a short sale in April was $185,000, up from $175,250 one year ago. The median price of bank-owned homes sold in April was $182,100, up from $164,750 one year ago.
Beaudry said short sales may continue to be an attractive option for some homeowners in 2016 since Congress voted in late December to again extend the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007, as REALTORS advocated. If Congress had not voted to again extend this tax break to help distressed homeowners, any amount of money a bank wrote off in agreeing to sell a home as part of a short sale would have been taxable when sellers file their federal income taxes.
GLVAR said 28.1 percent of all local properties sold in April were purchased with cash, down from 30.4 percent one year ago. That’s well short of the February 2013 peak of 59.5 percent, indicating that cash buyers and investors are still more active in Southern Nevada than in most markets, but that their influence continues to wane.
These GLVAR statistics include activity through the end of April 2016. 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 homes for sale by owners. Other highlights include:
- The monthly value of local real estate transactions tracked through the MLS during April was nearly $714 million for homes and more than $116 million for condos, high-rise condos and townhomes. Compared to one year ago, total sales volumes in April were up 0.7 percent for homes and 17.8 percent for condos and townhomes.
- In April, 70.8 percent of all existing local homes and 68.0 percent of all existing local condos and townhomes sold within 60 days. That compares to one year ago, when 65.4 percent of all existing local homes and 65.8 percent of all existing condos and townhomes sold within 60 days.
About the GLVAR
GLVAR was founded in 1947 and provides its more than 12,500 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 www.LasVegasRealtor.com.