Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Southern Nevada home prices continue to rise in February

Regency at Summerlin

Mikayla Whitmore

A look at model homes for sale at the Toll Brothers’ first Active Adult Community called Regency at Summerlin on March 3, 2016

Despite an increasingly tight housing supply, the number of Southern Nevada home sales continued to rise in February, the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors reported on Tuesday.

The total number of existing local homes, condos and townhomes sold in February was 2,815, up from 2,676 in February 2016. Compared to one year ago, sales were up 6.5 percent for homes and up 0.4 percent for condos and townhomes.

Accompanying the tight supply is the continuing increase in prices. The median price of existing single-family homes sold during February through GLVAR's multiple listing service increased to $240,000, up 0.8 percent from January and up 8.9 percent from February 2016. The median price of local condos and townhomes sold in February was $118,000, up 4.0 percent from January, but down 2.9 percent from February 2016.

The median single-family home price in Southern Nevada one year ago at this time was $220,350. Two years ago, it was $205,000. Five years ago, in February 2012, it was $121,000.

“So, we’ve come a long way in the last five years,” GLVAR President David J. Tina said. “This shows that our home prices are still increasing, but they aren’t rising as fast as they were a few years ago.”

Tina said this stability is better than the big peaks and valleys the area has experienced in the last decade. “Homeowners are still seeing a healthy rate of appreciation, which is good for our economy and our housing market,” Tina said.

Population growth and buyers feeling more confident about the local economy and job market are reasons for the growing demand for housing and the sales increase, Tina said.

Southern Nevada home prices are still a relative bargain when compared to cities in neighboring California, he said.

The tight supply, however, is a challenge for those looking for lower-priced properties. At the current sales pace, Tina said Southern Nevada has less than a three-month supply of homes available for sale. A six-month supply is considered to be a balanced market.

By the end of February, GLVAR reported 5,564 single-family homes listed for sale without any sort of offer. That’s down 24.1 percent from one year ago. For condos and townhomes, the 758 properties listed without offers in February represented a 66.6 percent decrease from one year ago.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story incorrectly characterized the relationship between the supply and prices of homes. | (March 7, 2017)

Join the Discussion:

Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.

Full comments policy