"It’s economics 101: too much demand and too little supply. And caught in the middle are folks like first-time homebuyer David Brim, who's been trying with his wife to buy a home for two months.
“We got plenty of money, we got great jobs, we go and bid on these houses $80,000-$90,000 over appraisal, and we're getting outbid by cash buyers by $50,000 to $80,000", Brim told me.
“Just to be getting outbid by cash buyers, it’s frustrating. We’ve been in the valley 20 years or more. Trying to buy a single-family home in the market today is just ridiculous,” Brim adds.
That's life, in a housing market where the median price of a local resale sat at $460,000 in March. That's up 2.2% from February, and a whopping 26.7% from March 2021.
Competition remains tight, says realtor Vandana Bhalla.
“Even before it hits live on the market we've got two or three offers that come in, that sort of trickle in. I had an agent on my team who had, like, I don't know, 17 offers on a home that she recently listed,” says Bhalla.
About 83% of homes are selling within a month. About 32% of purchases are being done with all cash. And many of those buyers are either investors or equity-rich out-of-state folks, like Californians. They see Nevada as a bargain.
“It's better than it was there,” she adds.
The more affordable option, condos, are also increasing. Their median price is now $270,000, up 3.8% from February and up 39.2% from a year ago.
And this won't make buyers happy: in this market, the listing price is a suggestion. Pretty much all properties now are selling above list price, with a ten percent premium – or more – not uncommon, realtors say.
“You've got to be aggressive when you go in. You probably don't want to be looking at homes at the top of your buying power. You've got to have some room for negotiation and probably some room to go up,” says Brandon Roberts, the President of Las Vegas Realtors, the trade group that tracks activity in the resale market.
So where now? Are these increases sustainable?
“All the industry experts are indicating a slowdown in the increase but still seeing an increase in prices,” says Roberts.
That's the new normal for Las Vegas, as demand outstrips supply. In March, there were only 2,005 homes for sale without offers, not even a month's supply. A normal market has six." - KSNV-TV