Sales of resale homes, as well as listings in April were down around 30% from the previous month. New home contracts written, were down 50% from the previous month. We currently have a 4 month inventory of free-standing homes, at the current rate of properties going under contract. The inventory for condos and townhomes is at 5.6 months. High-rise properties have an incredible 33 month inventory, again given the number of listings and the rate of sale. Only 16 high-rise properties went under contract in April. Looking at age restricted properties as a sub-group, we are looking at a 4.4 month inventory of homes available.
Prices for free-standing homes were down somewhat from April, but still up somewhat from the same period last year.
Looking at the first 10 days of May shows 933 residential properties going under contract, inside the valley. That is a surprisingly robust number considering the state wide lock-down currently in place. So far, the local real estate market has fared better that I would have imagined two months ago. The mid to long term prospects, I would not like to guess. The Strip, I am sure will come back, but how long will that take and how strong will the recovery be? How much economic damage will be done in the interim?
Just as an aside, there is much “happy talk” out there as to how the technological revolution, real estate via FaceTime and with the aid of videos will save us during this pandemic. None of this can hurt, but 99% of the time the buyer will need to still physically inspect any property of interest before closing. At least that is my opinion.
I will try to keep you posted with the latest developments.
