Las Vegas’ housing market is ending this year drenched in cold water, following a red-hot 2021.
A sharp jump in mortgage rates sparked big drops in home sales, widespread price cuts, huge increases in available inventory, and more incentives from builders. Housing markets across the U.S. also slowed down, but Las Vegas retreated faster than the nation overall in key ways.
With 2023 around the corner, Southern Nevada’s market remains in something of a logjam, and industry experts predict a muted year ahead for housing nationwide.
Prospective buyers have been sidelined amid big jumps in monthly payments, and would-be sellers have had incentives to stay put, as they likely have a lower mortgage rate on their current home than what they’d get on a new purchase.
Nicole Bachaud, senior economist with listing site Zillow, told the Review-Journal that mortgage rates will likely stabilize next year.
But she expects home sales nationwide to remain “far lower” than in 2021 and 2020, when markets around the U.S., including in Las Vegas, heated up.
“We’re definitely expecting things to be cooled and slow compared to what we saw the past couple of years,” she said.
Taylor Marr, deputy chief economist with brokerage firm Redfin, recently predicted that U.S. resales will tumble by about 16 percent next year, and the median sales price for a home will slide by roughly 4 percent.
He told the Review-Journal that 2022 marked one of the biggest “U-turns” for the housing market and noted that mortgage rates climbed at the fastest pace ever.
“It caused the party to end,” he said.
‘Sharp’ pullback
Las Vegas’ housing market was still heated at the beginning of 2022. Sellers were fielding a “frenzy” of offers, and buyers were bidding over asking prices and waiving contingencies, said Brandon Roberts, president