LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Despite the coronavirus pandemic, Las Vegas valley homes continue to sell at record high prices due to a housing shortage and record low mortgage rates.
According to a report released by Las Vegas REALTORS® (LVR), the median price of an existing single-family home sold for a record $337,250 during September which was an 8.8% increase over September 2019 when the median price was $310,000. The number of homes sold last month (3,996) was up nearly 19% from a year ago.
The number of condos and townhomes sold was also up by nearly 7%. The median price for those was $195,500 in September which was an increase of 14.3% from $171,000 in September of 2019.
“The pause during the beginning of the pandemic seems to have pushed the traditional summer sales season into the fall. We’ll see if we can sustain this momentum heading into next year. We’re also dealing with a housing shortage, with no signs of that changing anytime soon,” said 2020 LVR President Tom Blanchard.
He added, for a balanced market, there should be a six-month supply of homes and in September there was less than a two-month supply of homes available for sale. Nearly 83% of homes and 80% of condos or townhouses sold within 60 days of listing.
He said there could be even more activity this month after Gov. Steve Sisolak announced open houses could resume on Oct. 1.
The report suggests that cash buyers and investors have been less active than the same time last year. Nearly 18% of home sales were cash in September, compared to 23% a year ago at the same time.
The LVR report is 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.
