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Housing Market in Sin City Stabilizing

Californians are migrating to Las Vegas

Information from the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors (GLVAR), and the Las Vegas Review-Journal [1], shows that the housing market in Sin City is stabilizing for the first time in decades. 

The report found that buyers purchased 3,168 single-family houses last month, which is up 0.3% in July and an annual increase of 3.1%. Fewer homes were on the market in August at 7.766, which is down 0.5% from the prior month. 

The Review-Journal states that Las Vegas home prices have been a “roller coaster” over the past 15 years. Janet Carpenter, President of the GLVAR, said prices soared in the mid-2000s, fell in the Great Recession, and have been “ramping back up” since 2012.

“If you look at it that way, I guess you can say we’re coasting along right now,” Carpenter said. 

Also, prices are rising faster than the national average but as fast as the previous year. The median-sales price in August 2018 rose 13.5% from 2017.

Another report out of FOX5 in Las Vegas [2] said a large part of the change could be associated to the influx of Californians to Las Vegas. 

"My California buyers are just so impressed with the bang for your buck. That they can get a brand new 3,500 square foot home for what they sold their 1,200 square foot fixer-upper in Orange County," said Kendall Towers with Berkshire Hathaway. 

CoreLogic’s latest Case-Shiller Home Price Index [3]reported that prices rose 3.1% annually in June, which is a decline from 3.3% growth in May. 

Phoenix overtook Las Vegas for the market with the highest annual price grow at 5.8%. Home prices in Las Vegas grew year-over-year by 5.5% and Tampa Bay followed with a 4.7% increase. Atlanta, Georgia, and Detroit, Michigan, were close behind with annual growth at 4.5% and 4.2%, respectively. 

“While falling mortgage rates have thus far only led to an increase in refinancing, rather than purchase activity, there will undoubtedly be a large boon to the marginal homebuyer,” said Ralph B. McLaughlin, Deputy Chief Economist and Executive of research and insights for CoreLogic. “Thus, we should expect the lengthy slowdown in home price growth to flatten or even tick upwards by the end of the year assuming the U.S. economy avoids any present-day threats of a recession.”