LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Home prices continue to climb, setting a record in April with a median price of $475,000 in the Las Vegas valley.
A report released Friday morning by Las Vegas Realtors (LVR) shows the median price has risen $15,000 since last month. But sales have started to slow down as interest rates rise.
In just over 10 years, prices have quadrupled, according to LVR President Brandon Roberts. January of 2012 marked the bottom of the market, when the median price had dropped to $118,000. Just within the past year, home prices have grown by 26.7% — from $375,000.
Condos and townhomes have followed suit, but have actually gained more than single-family houses over the past year. The median price for condos and townhomes is now at $275,000 — up 35.8% from $202,450 in April of last year.
“With mortgage interest rates going up in recent months and so few homes available for sale, it’s no wonder we’re selling fewer homes,” Roberts said. “Although local home prices are still increasing, we expect the rate of appreciation to start slowing down at some point as these trends continue. At least we had more homes available for sale than we had the previous month and the previous year.”
Demand hasn’t been a problem with low interest rates, but that could change. And it might push more buyers toward the affordability of condos and townhomes.
Roberts said the number of available houses has rarely, if ever, been this low.
The LVR report excludes sales of new homes, focusing only on sales of existing single-family homes. The median price is the price in the middle — half sell for more, and half sell for less.
Homes have been selling faster this year than previous years. In April, 94.0% of all existing local homes and 96.1% of all existing local condos and townhomes sold within 60 days.
During April, 32.0% of all local property sales were purchased with cash, according to LVR. That’s up from 27.9% one year ago. While that percentage has been increasing this year, it’s still below the March 2013 cash buyer peak of 59.5%.
