Las Vegas home prices show biggest drop among major US cities
Las Vegas home prices fell 1.9% in May as national prices rose, with listings and price cuts pointing to a cooler local market.
By Sal Moretti · Money Reporter
3 min read
Las Vegas home prices posted the steepest annual drop among the 20 major metro areas tracked by the S&P Cotality Case-Shiller Index, falling 1.9% in May from a year earlier, according to new index data.
The decline puts Las Vegas on the other side of a national market that is still edging higher. U.S. home prices rose 1.1% year over year in May, faster than the 0.9% annual increase recorded a month earlier, according to the index.
Prices in the Case-Shiller 20-city index also gained speed, rising 1.6% from a year earlier after a 1.2% annual increase in the prior month.
Why are Las Vegas home prices falling?
More homes are sitting on the market in Las Vegas, giving buyers more choices and sellers less pricing power. Realtor.com reported that active listings in Las Vegas rose 3.4% in June from a year earlier, compared with a 1.9% national increase in housing inventory.
New listings in Las Vegas were also up 3.2%, according to Realtor.com. Active listings include all homes currently for sale, while new listings are properties that have just been added to the market.
The median list price in Las Vegas was about $474,950, Realtor.com said. The platform also found that 23.3% of homes listed for sale in the area had taken a price cut.
Zillow’s home-value data points in the same direction. The average Las Vegas home value was down 3.1% at the end of June from the same month a year earlier, according to Zillow.
Where are prices still rising?
Chicago led the other end of the table. Home prices there climbed 6.9% in May from a year earlier, according to the Case-Shiller data.
New York and Cleveland also posted strong gains, according to the index. That split highlights a market where some older urban areas are still seeing price pressure while parts of the West and South cool off.
Rebecca Kaufman, associate director of commodities at S&P Dow Jones Indices, said in a statement that the divide may reflect changes in post-pandemic housing patterns, including return-to-office policies that appear to support traditional city markets.
Lisa Sturtevant, chief economist at Bright MLS, said in a statement that housing supply is playing a major role in the price gap. She said prices are still being pushed up in many Midwest and Northeast markets where inventory is tight and new construction is limited.
Sturtevant also said San Francisco is a different case, with artificial-intelligence-related growth helping fuel price gains there. In much of the South and West, she said, more inventory and softer demand have slowed home-price growth.
For Las Vegas sellers, the data show a market with more competition and more price trimming. For buyers, the shift may mean more room to bargain than in markets where inventory remains scarce.
This story draws on original reporting from MarketWatch.