LAS VEGAS, NV (KXNT) - Local home prices continued to rise as the year came to an end, though fewer existing homes were sold in Southern Nevada during 2019 compared to the previous year.
So says a report released Tuesday by the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors.
GLVAR reported that the median price of existing single-family homes sold in Southern Nevada through its Multiple Listing Service (MLS) during December was $312,990. That was up 6.0% from $295,250 in December of 2018. Meanwhile, the median price of local condos and townhomes sold in December was $178,000. That was up 8.9% from $163,500 in December of 2018.
“As we begin a new year and new decade, I think you can sum up the state of the local housing market with two words: stable and sustainable,” said 2020 GLVAR President Tom Blanchard. “We ended the year with a fairly strong month of December, which is usually one of our slowest months. Although sales and prices both increased last month, we still sold fewer homes in 2019 than we did in past years. I think the tight local housing supply we’ve been dealing with had something to do with that.”
According to GLVAR, the total number of existing local homes, condos, townhomes and other residential properties sold in Southern Nevada during 2019 was 41,269. That’s down from 42,876 total sales in 2018 and from 45,388 in 2017.
The total number of existing local homes, condos and townhomes sold during December was 3,214. Compared to one year ago, December sales were up 21.8% for homes and up 17.2% for condos and townhomes.
By all indications, Blanchard said “the local housing market in 2020 figures to look a lot like it did last year,” with gradually increasing or stable home prices, strong demand for housing and a persistently tight supply.
As long as Southern Nevada continues to enjoy economic, job and population growth, he expects the housing market to continue on its current course. That’s a dramatic departure from the real estate roller-coaster ride of the previous decade, he added. Before slowing down last year, local home prices had been soaring since early 2012, postingdouble-digit gains from year to year while climbing back from their post-recession bottom. According to GLVAR, the median price of existing single-family homes sold in Southern Nevada peaked at $315,000 in June of 2006 before falling during the recession. Local home prices hit a post-recession bottom of $118,000 in January of 2012