Las Vegas Housing Market Trends

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The Las Vegas housing market continues to be the strongest in the nation!  There was an increase of 28.9 percent in the number of existing homes sold in 2004 over the number sold in 2003. 
This was a total of 64,168 recorded sales of existing homes in the Las Vegas housing market.  New home sales also are strong with a total of 29,248 new home sales recorded during 2004.  This was an increase of 15.9 percent over the previous year.

The outlook for the Las Vegas housing market is predicted to be strong according to many experts in part as a result of the strong employment growth in Las Vegas. 
Instead of being driven by low mortgage rates, the Las Vegas housing market of the next few years will be driven by employment growth. 

During the first few months of 2005, Las Vegas has an unemployment rate of 3.5%.  The one-year job growth for 2004 was 44,680. 

This is not surprising when you consider that there are over 7,000 people moving to Las Vegas each month!

The job creating that is fueling the Las Vegas housing market results from the more than half a dozen new hotels or major hotel expansions currently under construction (March, 2005) as well as from the approximately seventy high-rise condominium projects and four major retail malls proposed.

Demand for new Las Vegas homes is a strong segment of the Las Vegas housing market since there are over 80,000 people moving to Las Vegas each year. Developers are accommodating this demand. According to Dennis Smith, President of Home Builders Research, land and housing prices will continue to rise as long as Las Vegas maintains positive employment numbers and large numbers of home buyers continue moving to Las Vegas. He states, "Show me another market in the United States with under 2 million population and five builders selling over 1,200 homes each."

During 2004, the Las Vegas housing market included the filing of 32,879 new home permits.  This was an increase over 2003 of 7,666 permits.  The median price of new Las Vegas homes during December, 2004 was $290,287.  This was an increase of 38.5 percent over the median new home price during 2003.  As mentioned above, the total number of new homes sold in the Las Vegas housing market during 2004 was 29,248 which was an increase of 4,018 or 15.9 percent over the previous year.

Some experts are predicting continued strong growth in the new home segment of the Las Vegas housing market.  Stephen Bottfeld, who is Executive Vice President of Marketing Solutions, a consumer research company, states that the Las Vegas housing market is “not on a bubble, but on the edge of a boom!”.  He is predicting another record breaking year in the Las Vegas housing market and suggests that there will be new home sales of over 30,000 and an increase in the median new-home price to the mid-$300,000’s.

For the existing Las Vegas housing market during 2004,  the median price of an existing or resale Las Vegas home was $250,000 during December, 2004, which was an increase of $70,000 over the December of the previous year.

The average home in Las Vegas sells in 45 days so it's not surprising that John Burns Real Estate Consulting has advised to "Place your bet in the Las Vegas (housing market)". His reasons are the strong job growth in Las Vegas and the phenomenal Las Vegas homeownership demographics with the large influx of young adults in the last decade.

Source: RealEstateConsulting.com

Over 47 percent of homebuyers in the Las Vegas housing market shop for their new home less than two months.   The roller coaster ride of 2004 is over – inventory is much more plentiful in the Las Vegas housing market of 2005 and prices are still reasonable and expected to rise.

For a simple, quick, hassle-free search of available existing Las Vegas homes on the market right now, use our Free Las Vegas Real Estate MLS Search. For a search of available new homes, use the Free Las Vegas New Construction Search. Also, if you have questions about the Las Vegas housing market including market dynamics in various parts of the Las Vegas Valley, contact us for a prompt response.

Housing Market Resource Links:

Real Estate Consulting provides an analysis of local markets throughout the U.S.

Home Builders Research, Inc. provides Las Vegas home sales statistics and information on Las Vegas housing market trends. Areas covered include Las Vegas, Henderson, North Las Vegas, and Boulder City.

The Meyers Group details current metro Las Vegas housing and homebuilding data.