The Clark County housing market continued a hot streak in August, according to the latest report from the Regional Multiple Listing Service — although the rate of new listings didn’t quite keep pace with sales.
A total of 856 closed sales were reported for the month, a 3 percent increase compared with 831 reported in July and a 4.9 percent increase compared with August 2018. It was the highest number of closings reported in the month of August since 2005, according to the report.
Pending sales were also up year-over-year but fell slightly from a July high point. The RMLS reported 871 pending sales, a 7.3 percent increase over the 812 reported in August 2018 but a 5.7 percent decline from the 924 reported in July.
New listings were reported at 1,074, which was a 7.4 percent drop from the 1,160 reported in July and a 0.8 percent decline from the 1,083 reported in August 2018.
Average and median sale prices both crept up slightly from July. The average sale price rose to $415,100, an increase of $2,000 from July and an increase of $14,200 from August 2018. The year-to-date average sale price now stands at $404,700, compared with $392,200 at the end of August 2018.
The median sale price rose to $380,000, an increase of $1,000 from July and an increase of $12,600 from August 2018. The year-to-date median sale price now stands at $369,900, compared with $355,000 at the end of August 2018.
The region’s inventory, an estimate of how long it would take to sell through the current backlog, dropped from 2.4 to 2.3 months in July, continuing a relatively unchanged pattern. The inventory has remained at either 2.3 or 2.4 months since March.
However, the inventory numbers change substantially at opposite ends of the market. In a monthly report from John L. Scott Real Estate, CEO J. Lennox Scott offered a breakdown of sales activity by price range, showing substantial variation between the upper and lower ends of the market in terms of housing availability.
Pending sales exceeded new listings for homes priced below $250,000, according to the report, with 44 pending sales compared with 43 new listings. 55.1 percent of new listings in that category had pending sales within their first 30 days on the market.
For homes priced at $250,000-$350,000, Scott’s report showed 258 pending sales and 264 new listings, with an estimate that 68.9 percent of new listings had pending sales within their first 30 days on the market.
Those numbers resulted in only 1.1 months of unsold inventory at the below $250,000 range, and 0.8 months of unsold inventory in the $250,000-$350,000 range. Lennox described both categories as facing a severe shortage in unsold listing supply.
The supply in months increased with each home price bracket, according to Scott’s report, reaching 8.2 months in the $750,000-$1 million range and 11.9 months in the $1 million-and-above range.
Scott characterized the local market as being “in great shape” for the fall, due to local job growth and favorable interest rates.
“The next two months — September and October — are historically the best for selection and availability out of the next six months,” he wrote.
