Before I get into this topic, I should start by saying “luxury” is a subjective term. Different people have different definitions of what constitutes a “luxury” home, condominium or other property.
By most definitions, I’d say the short answer to these questions is that the luxury housing market here has been fairly flat this year.
In Southern Nevada, I think most people would agree that a home that sells for more than $1 million should be considered a luxury property. So let’s start there.
According to statistics from the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors from Jan. 1 to Oct. 31, we sold fewer million-dollar properties so far in 2014 (265) than we did during that same time in 2013 (291).
These GLVAR statistics reflect sales of all local residential properties (single-family homes, condos, townhomes, high-rise units, etc.) through GLVAR’s Multiple Listing Service.
Within that total number of sales, GLVAR’s statistics show that we have also sold slightly fewer local high-rise properties for more than $1 million (60) through the first 10 months of this year than we did during the same time last year (66).
It stands to reason that we’re selling fewer million-dollar properties this year, since we’re also selling fewer properties overall.
In fact, through Oct. 31, GLVAR reports 30,500 total sales so far in 2014. That’s down from 34,581 total property sales (at any price) through the first 10 months of 2013.
Now, let’s set our sights just a bit lower. If we want to define luxury homes as all properties in our relatively affordable local housing market selling for more than $500,000, GLVAR statistics show that the market so far this year hasn’t changed much from last year.
Through the first 10 months of 2014, GLVAR reports that 1,127 local properties sold for more than $500,000. That’s down slightly from 1,178 total properties sold in that price range during the first 10 months of 2013.
By HEIDI KASAMA
2014 GLVAR President
