A Las Vegas economy that keeps improving and adding jobs is driving up demand for housing in Southern Nevada, pushing home values up.
Unemployment declines in Las Vegas metro area
The August 2017 report from SalesTraq says that median single family houses here are now about $260,000, which is 10.6 percent above last August. There were 3,309 closings, 6.7 percent more than last year but effective availability was down to 1.7 months, or 32.5 percent lower.
“Our housing supply isn’t necessarily drying up,” David Tina, president of the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors said in a news release. “People are still listing their homes for sale. We’re just selling so many homes at such a rapid rate.”
As homes gain value, foreclosures and underwater properties become less of a problem for Las Vegas, which was the poster child for distressed properties coming out of the Great Recession and its housing bubble crash.
Condos and townhouses closings grew nearly 12 percent but the median price remained about the same at $137,950 but up about 20 percent since 2016.
Foreclosures were down about 8 percent from 2017 but more than 80 percent from the prior year, which has been a continuing trend in Las Vegas of late.
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