Lack of Inventory Drives Down Sales Numbers

Yet more evidence that Las Vegas home prices are being driven up not by above average demand, but by below average supply.  Nationwide, home sales rose in March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 417,000 units.  While this is seen as a sign that the broader housing market is starting to shows signs of a sustained recovery, it is well below the 700,000 unit mark, which is what most economists point to as a “healthy” sales rate.  Those 417,000 units though do represent a 1.5% increase nationally from the previous month and a 18.5% increase from the same month last year.

Las Vegas, however, is not leading the way.  In fact, Las Vegas sales data is dragging the rest of the nation down.  Although data was not available in the report I read for only Clark County, data for the Western United States showed sales falling 20.9%.  In the report, this was attributed to problems of supply.  These figures and more like them lead us to again speculate on whether or not the run up of home prices in the Las Vegas valley is a sustainable phenomenon.

Sellers' Market Persists in Las Vegas

The sellers’ market that prevails in Las Vegas real estate at the moment
shows no signs of slowing down.  The median home price in Las Vegas
continues to rise and, although foreclosures have crept back up from
their low point last year, the oft rumored glut of foreclosures, known
as shadow inventory, has yet to make an appearance.  Las Vegas home
buyers even persevered through the holidays and cold temperatures
trouncing last year’s marks for home sales during the usually quiet
holiday period.

The median price of a resale home in Las Vegas for November, 2012 was
$133,000.  This betters the mark for November of last year ($114,000) by
almost 17%.  New home sales also fared well.  The median price of a new
home in Las Vegas was $219,285 in November, 2012, up 7.4% from a year
earlier ($204,064.)  Las Vegas also plowed right through the dormant
period that normally cuts home sales in the months of November and
December by approximately 50%.  Instead, Las Vegas home sales were up
39% from the holiday period last year with an average of 600 homes being
sold each month.

All-in-all, the Las Vegas real estate market is continuing to enjoy steady growth
as the pressures of demand exceed the supply.  Zillow recently ranked
Las Vegas as the #4 Sellers’ Market in the country.  This represents a
large departure from the title of “Foreclosure Capital of the Nation”,
which Las Vegas held for four consecutive years.