Local News

Actions

Realtors: Solid time to buy properties in Las Vegas

Posted at 9:53 PM, Dec 27, 2018
and last updated 2018-12-28 01:01:59-05

LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Realtors in Las Vegas say Vegas will be the second highest appreciating marketplace in 2019 at 7.9 percent.

This forecasted number puts Southern Nevada just behind Grand Rapids, Michigan in that category for next year.

"Builders needed to build more product, more inventory and they've been working on that for the last year. We were begging sellers to list their homes in the marketplace because it was a hot market,” said Christopher Bishop, president of the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors.

Bishop also said last year builders sold about 9,400 homes.

"It was a phenomenal year for real estate. The first eight months were vibrant. A lot of properties were selling at a very high pace and down to a just few weeks on the market," said Bob Hamrick, chairman, and CEO of Coldwell Banker.

Due to the lighter inventory, potential buyers were becoming frustrated, often competing with multiple other offers, but now they have less frustration with more options to select from, according to local realtors.

"We're now at a point to where we have 54 percent more homes for sale now than we had at the beginning of the year," Hamrick said.

Realtors say for those selling their home to make sure the house is positioned properly in a competitive manner due to the increased inventory. And as for buyers, it is the time to buy.

"Basically in this type of a market, we are reaching a normalization. It's a normal market. What we were leaving was a hypermarket," Hamrick said.

Currently, buyers have an opportunity to negotiate and sellers have to be more receptive, according to Vegas realtors.