The Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors (GLVAR) reported this week that despite a shrinking housing supply, local home prices and sales continued to rise in May 2017.

GLVAR reported that the median price of existing single-family homes sold during May through its Multiple Listing Service (MLS) increased to $250,000. That was up 0.4 percent from April and up 9.1 percent from May 2016. Meanwhile, the median price of local condos and townhomes sold in May was $137,950, up 6.1 percent from April and up 16.9 percent from May 2016.
 
At the current sales pace, GLVAR President David J. Tina said Southern Nevada now has less than a two-month supply of existing homes available for sale. A six-month supply is considered to be a balanced market.

"We're dealing with a housing shortage, and our housing supply has been getting tighter every month," said Tina. "This is creating challenges for potential buyers and for our members. Homes are selling faster each month too, so buyers need to be aggressive and move quickly when they find a home they like. At the same time, it's encouraging to see that we're still able to sell more homes each month and that home prices are increasing, but at a more gradual pace."

By the end of May, GLVAR reported 4,972 single-family homes listed for sale without any sort of offer. That's down 34.8 percent from one year ago. For condos and townhomes, the 630 properties listed without offers in May represented a 71.8 percent drop from one year ago.
 
Like prices, local home sales have also been increasing. The total number of existing local homes, condos and townhomes sold in May was 4,297, up from 3,349 in May 2016. Compared to one year ago, sales were up 29.9 percent for homes and up 21.7 percent for condos and townhomes.
 
According to GLVAR, total sales to date in 2017 are 17,963, which include all homes, condos, townhomes and other residential properties sold through GLVAR's MLS. These sales continue to outpace 2016, when 41,720 total properties were sold in Southern Nevada. That was more than the 38,577 properties sold during 2015. It was also more total sales than in 2014, but fewer than each year from 2009 through 2013.
 
GLVAR said 26.9 percent of all local properties sold in May were purchased with cash, down from 28.2 percent in May 2016. That's well short of the February 2013 peak of 59.5 percent, indicating that cash buyers and investors are still more active in Southern Nevada than in most markets, but that their influence has been waning.
 
For several years, GLVAR has been reporting fewer distressed sales and more traditional home sales, where lenders are not controlling the transaction. That trend continued in May, when 3.1 percent of all local sales were short sales - which occur when lenders allow borrowers to sell a home for less than what they owe on the mortgage. That compares to 4.5 percent of all sales in May 2016. Another 3.7 percent of all May sales were bank-owned, down from 6.1 percent one year ago.
 
These GLVAR statistics include activity through the end of May 2017. GLVAR distributes statistics each month based on data collected through its MLS, which does not necessarily account for newly constructed homes sold by local builders or homes for sale by owners.
 
Market highlights include:
 

• The total value of local real estate transactions tracked through the MLS during May was more than $1 billion for homes and more than $114 million for condos, high-rise condos and townhomes. Compared to one year ago, total sales volumes in May were up 40.2 percent for homes, and up 20.5 percent for condos and townhomes.

• Homes and condos continued to sell faster than last year at this time. In May, 81.6 percent of all existing local homes and 87.3 percent of all existing local condos and townhomes sold within 60 days. That compares to one year ago, when 71.2 percent of all existing local homes and 67.7 percent of all existing local condos and townhomes sold within 60 days.

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World Property Journal.