For the first time in years, the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors says the Southern Nevada real estate market is normal.
“Let’s go back to the normalcy of what we had 10-15 years ago when we had a normal market,” said Thomas Blanchard, President-Elect of the GLVAR.
“3-percent growth and appreciation, a normal amount of homes on the market, a normal amount of buyers, a normal amount of sellers. A normal everyday run of the mill market,” he added.
Fortunately, for homeowners, “normal” still allows for some growth, while providing stability to stave off fears of another bubble like the one during the Great Recession in 2007.
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Blanchard says lessons were learned from the mistakes prior to the real estate market crash back then. “Look at differences of where we were before when we had a bubble going, and where we are now. There was no normalcy. There was no stability in the market we had prior to the big bubble bursting, so all these things that you’re hearing now are really, really good,” Blanchard said.
According to the GLVAR’s July numbers, the median price of a single-family home in Las Vegas rose to $303,000. That’s a 4.5-percent improvement over July of 2018.
By the same token, median prices on condominiums and townhomes around the Las Vegas valley climbed 5.4% year-to-year, to $175,000. Cash purchases, which made up 21.7% in July were down by about 1-percentage point in the year-to-year comparisons.
While the numbers show general growth, Blanchard says it can be sustained going forward.
“What we did before, we’re not doing again, So we’ve learned from the past, and hopefully, not even hopefully, I know that we will not follow the path that we did before,” Blanchard said.
He also believes that based on what he’s seeing out of the local housing market, a recession in the near future is unlikely. “From the real estate point of view, we’re seeing a normal healthy stable market, and until something really changes, I can’t see it. I don’t see it,” said Blanchard. “But, I’ll tell you this, as soon as I do see it, I’ll be more than happy to tell you I see it!”
© 2019 Sinclair Broadcast Group | All Rights Reserved | September 17, 2019
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