Posting or buying homes for sale in Las Vegas in the new normal is rife with a lot of potential for growth, as the area set record-high increases in home sales. By the end of 2020, the Las Vegas Realtors reported a whopping total of 3,726 single-family home sales in March, which is a 35.1% increase compared to the same month last year. Similarly, the median sales price for a single family house went up from $355,000 in February to $363,000 in March, a 13.8 percent increase over the course of a year.
The downside, however, is that Las Vegas’ hot housing market presents quite the formidable challenge to home buyers. As median sales prices increase, the housing inventory in the area decreases. In March, for instance, there were a little over 3,500 new listings, which is down by 1.1% from March of last year. Normally, a balanced housing market would have at least 6 months of supply, but Las Vegas has only 0.5 months of inventory.
Factors That Led to the Supply-Demand Imbalance
There are many factors that led to this imbalance in housing demand and supply. First off, there is the city’s steadily growing economic base. Over the past ten years, Las Vegas has seen economic diversification, with strong employment generation across several non-core sectors.
What this means is that it no longer has to depend on leisure and hospitality, its key sectors that suffered throughout the pandemic, as other sectors stepped up. Now, industries such as manufacturing, healthcare, and finance are beginning to see significant growth in the area, which has made it an attractive location for those who want to buy a house.
Additionally, the federal government’s mortgage forbearance program equipped home shoppers with the supplemental tool that they need to make a pitch for a property and close it. When you add the state’s own moratoriums on mortgage, it would be easy to see why homes don’t spend a lot of time on listing platforms before they get snatched.
The low supply can also be explained by the constraints imposed by the pandemic on new construction and even resale. Disruptions in getting materials, as well as restrictions on mobility, made it hard for sellers to build new houses that they can put up for sale, or list their current property.
According to an economist at the Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania, key steps to the “property ladder” have also gotten interrupted; for elderly people who may want to put a longtime family home for sale, for instance, the decision to move into a nursing home or assisted living facility at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic is not ideal.
What It Means for Home Sellers and Home Buyers
This imbalance in housing supply and demand makes the Las Vegas real estate market a strong seller’s market. According to data, 74% of the home closings for March of this year spent only about a month on the market. In March of 2020, only 59% of homes sold in about a month. This represents a significant deduction in the amount of time that a home buyer can spend on deciding on a property. After all, there are other buyers looking at the same listings, and they may beat you to a house that you are eyeing.
However, that does not mean that the process of buying a house in Las Vegas is not a good idea for home shoppers. In the city, as well as in other areas of the country, mortgage rates are recording all-time lows, so if you want to finally move into a house that you can call your own, there is no better time than now.
In addition, there are incentives that await people who want to call Las Vegas home. For one, there is the city’s amazing entertainment and leisure landscape, which should be revived as soon as things settle back down and the country opens up, post-COVID. Economic growth is also evident in many various sectors, and quality of life in the area is always comparable to some of the best places in the United States.
Selling or Buying a House in Las Vegas
If you want to sell or buy a house in Las Vegas, timing is of great importance. With a lot of people looking to buy a house, putting your listing up should get you the closed sale in about a month, based on current trends. And if you want to snatch a property off the market, you will want to be as swift as you can to make sure that no one else beats you to your dream house.
To ensure successful results, it is best to enlist the help of a real estate agent. Such a professional can guide you through every facet of the process, and give you the knowledge that you need to make the most out of it. I, Loralee Wood, have almost 20 years of experience in helping both buyers and sellers, and you can harness my expertise today.
Call us today at 702.419.3212 or email us at loralee(dotted)wood(at)cbvegas(dotted)com.
