Remember the days of panic buying in Las Vegas housing? Of sellers getting multiple offers shortly after listing their home?
Those days around the time of the pandemic are gone. At least for now.
The year 2023 was the slowest for local home sales in at least a decade, according to a report released Tuesday by the trade group Las Vegas Realtors.
The report did note that Las Vegas home prices increased slightly in the face of a tight housing supply.
In a statement, the trade group reported that the median price of existing single-family homes sold in Southern Nevada through its Multiple Listing Service, commonly called MLS, during December was $449,900. That’s up about 6 percent from $425,000 in December 2022, but well below the record of $482,000 set in May 2022 when low interest rates created a frenzy of home buying. Some potential buyers pursued homes in Pahrump at the time.
Meanwhile, the median price of local condos and townhomes sold in December was $270,000, up almost 10 percent from $246,950 in December 2022. That’s still down from the high of $287,000 set in August 2022.
In a statement, Merri Perry, president of LVR, said a tight housing supply during 2023 slowed sales but also helped to prop up home prices. She attributed much of this to mortgage interest rates, which rose throughout much of the year before dipping as the year ended.
CNN reported an interest rate of 7.35 percent for a 30-year mortgage on Wednesday, down from a peak of around 8 percent at the end of 2023.
“It was good to see interest rates coming back down late in the year,” Perry said in the statement. “That helps more buyers afford a home. While we still need more homes on the market, many national experts are predicting at least some increase in the housing supply as we get into 2024.”
By the end of December, Las Vegas Realtors reported 3,766 single-family homes listed for sale without an offer. That’s down almost 40 percent from one year earlier. Likewise, the 1,133 condos and townhomes listed without offers in December represent an 18.5 percent decline from a year earlier.
The trade group reported a total of 1,981 existing local homes, condos and townhomes sold in December. Compared to December 2022, sales were down 1 percent for homes, but up about 18 percent for condos and townhomes.
The final tally for 2023 from Las Vegas Realtors showed a total of 29,069 sales of existing local homes, condos and townhomes. That was down from 2022, when LVR reported 35,584 total sales.
That followed the record year for existing local home sales in 2021, when LVR reported 50,010 total properties were sold. It was the first time LVR reported more than 50,000 local properties selling in a year and topped the previous record set in 2011 by nearly 2,000 sales.
According to LVR, 2023 marked the fewest local property sales since at least 2014, when LVR reported 35,096 total sales, and likely since the Great Recession.
