Posted November 8, 2017 in Buyer Info,Buyer Purchases,Just Sold,klinger,Real Estate Advice,Uncategorized
The Las Vegas housing market is still moving very fast as inventory stays extremely low. Many averaged price homes that are listed for sale in Las Vegas find that they receive multiple offers within the first few days of the home being listed. Many of Nevada Desert Realty’s home listing clients have received the above asking price for their homes. As the competition is driving prices up, many homeowners are realizing that the equity in their homes has greatly increased.
In the month of September, the Las Vegas housing market saw 3,492 completed real estate transactions for single-family homes, condos, and townhomes. This number is down over 450 Las Vegas real estate transactions from August, but this is not uncommon. It is very usual for the Las Vegas real estate market to slow down after the school year starts in August as many households that include children try to move before their children start school. While it is not unusual for a real estate agent to advise you to wait till the spring and summer months to sell your home if you can, many agents are continuing to see such a high demand for housing that they are still able to get homes listed and sold very quickly. This is uncommon for this time of the year when the market is supposed to be slowing down.
Of the sold transactions in September, almost 95% of the Las Vegas properties sold were traditional real estate transactions. A traditional real estate transaction is between a buyer and a seller, usually, both sides are represented by a Las Vegas real estate agent. This is the kind of real estate transaction most people think of when buying or selling their home, but there are also short sales and foreclosures. Short sale and foreclosures involve the banks or lender that holds the mortgage on the home. Of the sold Las Vegas homes in September 2017, under 3% of them were short sales. A short sale involves a homeowner and a lender working together to get a home sold that is currently worth less than what is owed on the mortgage. The percentage of short sales in the market can indicate how well the housing market is doing. If there are a very small percentage of short sales – like under 3% – the housing market is most likely healthy as homeowners are able to sell their homes and pay off their mortgage in the process. A small percentage of short sales also indicates that many homeowners have equity in their homes, which usually leads to market stability. There was also a low number of foreclosures in the month of September, just over 2% of the transactions were foreclosures or Real Estate Owned transactions. Both the short sale percentage and the foreclosure percentage went down from the month of August to the month of September.
Of the 3,492 real estate transactions in Las Vegas, 900 were cash purchases. Oftentimes cash purchases indicate the number of investors involved in the market at a given time. Cash purchases can also indicate a family moving from one home to another, using the profit from the sale of their past home to pay for their new home. Home sellers often prefer cash offers as escrow can close twice as fast with a cash purchase and sellers don’t have to risk whether or not their buyer can obtain financing during escrow.
There were 1,622 Las Vegas home sales that were financed with a conventional loan in the month of September. Conventional financing is often the most popular means of financing in the Las Vegas real estate market. Conventional loans usually require a higher down payment than an FHA loan, but if sellers use a conventional loan, they can avoid or remove the Private Mortgage Insurance once they have 20% equity in the home. There are often higher standards when applying for a conventional loan than an FHA loan. Though a conventional offer can be less competitive than a cash offer, sellers do like to accept conventional offers as usually, they indicate the buyer is responsible with their money as they’ve had to save a higher down payment amount. Conventional buyers can also often qualify for an FHA loan if they are facing difficulties qualifying for a conventional loan during escrow.
There were 636 FHA financed Las Vegas real estate transactions in September and 299 VA financed transactions. FHA loans can often involve more complications as it is a government-backed loan. VA loans require no down payment and only veterans or their spouses can qualify for these loans. As the requirements for these loans cut out a large portion of the population, it is not unusual for this to be the type of financing that is used the least.
There were 4,941 single family homes listed in Las Vegas in the month of September. There were also 133 new short sale listings and 48 new foreclosures single family homes listed in September 2017. The percentage of the single-family residence listed for sale in Las Vegas that sold in the month of September is over 57%. As over half of the inventory is selling every month, it may be a while before Las Vegas sees an increase in inventory. The average days on market is 22, which indicates that homes are going into escrow within days or even hours of being listed. During the month of September, there was a 1.8 month supply of single family homes for sale. The median list price was $252,340 and the median sold price was $247,621 for single-family homes in Las Vegas.
Contact Nevada Desert Realty at 702-509-1446 to get a current real estate market update and talk with a professional who can explain exactly what this means to you in your specific situation. We love to answer your Las Vegas real estate questions!
