What a difference a month can make in the Las Vegas housing market. New home developments are jumping up in traffic and sales. In January, the net sales activity doubled. 2014 was lackluster to say the least. So what has contributed to the increase?
For one thing, the 70-degree temperatures brought the lookers out to preview the new home developments.
- Buyers are getting off the fence. They are finally convinced that interest rates will rise this year.
- There is a pent-up demand in Las Vegas. Many first-time home buyers were thwarted by the strict mortgage guidelines. Lenders, FHA, Fannie, and Freddie have eased off on some of the qualification requirements. Minimum down payments have been lowered on some types of loans. Mortgage insurance has been reduced. These changes expand the base of home buyers.
- Las Vegas is still one of the top ten cities where people move, and the stats are up for people moving here.
- The economic conditions include strong job growth, a declining unemployment rate, an increase in construction projects around the city, and positive consumer confidence.
The resale home sales for January recorded 2,519 homes purchased. January 2014 recorded home sales totaled 2,401, just shy of a 1% increase. However, a good sign is that pending sales are rising.
The single-family home listings without a contingent offer totaled 7,246 on March 1, 2015.
There were 4,565 listings with contingent offers and 797 pending offers.
This year may be much busier than the past several years, as buyers and sellers are acting like they are motivated to buy and sell again.
Here is a look at the median prices for February. This RECAP chart is provided by Home Builders Research, Inc.
