Las Vegas real estate market hits plateau

Jennifer Shubinski

Wednesday, June 9, 2004 | 11:16 a.m.

The Las Vegas real estate market is still hot. But the frenzy of the past couple months has tapered off -- taking with it multiple offers on homes and the year-long wait for many new homes, industry experts said today.

Larry Murphy, president of local research firm SalesTraq, said after talking with numerous real estate agents Tuesday at a local industry meeting, he believes that market has hit its plateau. But he stresses home prices are not dissipating.

"The consensus was that the market is turning," Murphy said. "That even as we speak, the things that the Realtors see happening is less competition for offers and houses staying on the market a little longer."

A month ago, Henderson residents Kevinn and Janine Donovan most likely would have sold their home in the desirable 89052 ZIP code in south Las Vegas that includes Seven Hills, part of Anthem Country Club, Sun City Anthem and MacDonald Ranch, in days, if not a day.

But their 2,010-square-foot home in Sunridge at MacDonald Ranch, priced at $449,000 has sat on the market almost a week and only two people have come through to see it.

"We were disappointed that more people didn't come through the first weekend," Kevinn Donovan said. "We have it listed on the higher (price) end of the neighborhood, but we have more upgrades than any other home in the neighborhood, it shows like a model."

Bidding wars have almost completely disappeared as quickly as they appeared a couple months ago, although for the most part resale homes are still selling at 100 percent of the list price and homes priced right in desirable areas are still hard to get, real estate agents and industry watchers said.

The reason, some believe, is the increase in the availability of new and resale homes.

The number of new resale single family houses listed in May in the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) increased by more than 5,954 listings, or 27 percent from April, according to data from the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors, which runs and manages the service. That brought the total number of available single-family houses listed to 10,046 at the end of May.

Long waiting lists for homes at new home communities have all but disappeared and at some communities the wait for a new home has gone from 12 months to three months, Murphy said.

"The lists are going away, but they're not completely gone," he said, adding that the number of new home permits pulled has increased by 58 percent over last year and has helped contribute to the change.

Lee Barret, president of the local Realtors association and broker/president of Century 21 Barrett & Co. Inc. said the real estate market goes through cycles, much like the stock market.

"It's just finding it's balance now. It's still a good market," he said.

Another reason for the tapering off of bidding wars and competition for homes is investors aren't buying as many houses like they were in past months and prices for homes have gone too high too fast.

"People are still buying homes, the demand is here, but it's not the craze," said Tracey Donley, broker/owner of RE/MAX Excellence. "It's because of the interest rates which have gone up slightly that have cooled heels. Even my investors are sitting on the sidelines waiting to see what's happening and people have been priced out of the market; I'm talking about two paycheck households that have been priced out of the market."

Despite less competition for some homes, there is still demand for homes and the average sale prices remain strong in several areas of town during the first four months of 2004, according to an analysis of Clark County Recorders Office data compiled by Equity Title of Nevada.

A complete list of average home prices by ZIP code is published in the chart below. The numbers represent single-family homes only.

Average home prices

Las Vegas ZIP codes and their average home sales price in April, according to Equity title of Nevada: