The heat has not been the only thing rising this summer, seeing as Las Vegas housing prices are soaring and reaching all-time highs. Las Vegas is notorious for having its ups-and-downs when it comes to the housing market, but that seems to be the theme no more as median sales prices are skyrocketing.
Currently, the median sales price of previously owned single-family homes is roughly about $400,000, unmoving from the record set in July. However, that number is almost up 21 percent since August of last year, showing a steady increase.
On the other hand, mortgage interest rates have seen all-time lows, which has not had a positive impact on potential buyers to be able to afford a home. This has led many to search for alternatives, such as looking into renting, townhomes and condominiums.
Although the COVID-19 pandemic had a massive domino effect on the people losing their jobs, the housing market has been immune to it all. This is ultimately due in large part to rock-bottom mortgage rates that have essentially let buyers stretch their budgets.
Las Vegas Realtors President Aldo Martinez said in a news release that after home prices set all-time highs “each month since January, expectations of this continued trend were high,” although real estate professionals “always have to account for the seasonal conditions that cause pauses in our markets.”
While prices in August remained equal to July, the real estate “experts” describe it as a “momentary pause” with a holiday slowdown on the horizon. The median price range for an existing single-family home ranges at $405,000 in August, compared to $335,000 one year ago, matching all-time highs set in July.
Even though there is a “momentary pause,” according to the real estate experts, a $70,000 increase from a year ago seems to be trending in a different direction.
People are just getting back on their feet from the horrendous year we all went through, and buyers are finding the competition to be more of a problem than previously thought. An increasing number of buyers pay with cash now, making up about 47.1 percent of sales in August.
Paying with cash has never seemed more than a necessity than it is today. Buyers have been changing their ways towards people paying with cash as COVID-19 has made us all adapt to the “new normal”.
Vivek Sah, UNLV Lied Center for Real Estate Director, has highlighted that real estate is worthy only of what someone is willing to pay for it. He believes that the market will taper off but not nosedive like it did a decade or so ago.
History has been known to repeat itself, but for right now, housing prices are at an all-time high and are trying to make a little history of their own.
