Home sales were hot in December

Clark County home sales accelerated in December, which is normally a slow month for real estate, in another sign of a the red-hot local housing market.

Home sales in Clark County climbed by 21 percent from November and were 28 percent higher than in December 2014, the regional RMLS real estate listing service said in its newest Market Action report. The 667 closed sales numbers made December 2015 the strongest sales month for December since 2005, when 705 listings were completed, RMLS reported.

Pending sales, at 502 for the month, were up 4 percent from a year ago. But that sales measure was down 18 percent from November, RMLS said.

The long-running shortage of new listings continued to create difficult market conditions for buyers. Just 431 homes were listed during the month, a 14 percent drop from November. New listings were up by 2 percent from December 2014.

The supply of homes for sale, a calculation that also includes homes proposed or under construction, was enough to meet just 1.9 months of market demand. That inventory was the lowest for any month in 2015 and was far below the 3.4-month supply of homes for sale in December 2014.

The median sales price of Clark County homes sold in December was $272,500, down slightly from $274,000 in November. Median sales prices were up by 11 percent from a year ago.

Terry Wollam, Managing Broker at ReMax Equity Group — Wollam & Associates, predicted that the market is primed this year for an 8 percent to 9 percent increase in home appreciation.

“We have seen activity in the market picking up in January as we gain momentum from the holiday slowdown,” Wollam said by email.