Weekly Watch (Week Ending April 18, 2020)

Currently we are living in a world that is ever changing. My goal in “The Weekly Watch” is to increase your knowledge about what is happening with your investments and to provide you with information to help guide your decisions during this unprecedented time. The following are highlights from the most recent real estate activity in the Greater Reno-Sparks Region. These graphs represent activity for single-family residences for the week ending April 18, 2020 compared to the previous week, and compared to the week ending April 20, 2019. The data excludes condos/townhouses and new construction.

The Median Sales Price jumped back up 4.4%, from $407,000 to $425,000 from the week ending April 11, 2020 to the week ending April 18, 2020. The Median Sales price is also up 10.4% from this same week last year. This statistic is reflective of properties that went into contract roughly 30 days ago (the common length of escrow for properties obtaining financing).

# of Closed Sales increased 17.8% between the week ending April 11 and the April 18, 2020. This number is down 22.5% from the same week last year. Again, this statistic is reflective of properties that went into contract about 30 days ago.

Of the properties that went into contract approximately 30 days ago, these 86 Sellers received 99% of List Price. This is a slight increase of 0.3% from the previous week’s closed sales.

# of Days from Listing to Contract increased 51.8% from the week ending April 11 to April 18. Though this may seem like a radical change week over week, it is only taking 3.3% longer on average to accept an offer for purchase than this same time last year.

In the week ending April 18, the Active Inventory dropped 5.6% compared to the previous week, and is down about 24% from the same week in 2019. This inventory includes properties of all price ranges.

During the week ending April 18, 30 single family residences were either withdrawn from the market, expired, or were temporarily withdrawn from the market. This number sharply increased 30.4 from 23 the previous week, but skyrocketed a whopping 130.8% from the same time last year. We’re going to have to blame this one on COVID-19!

With 110 New Contracts/Pending Sales during the week ending April 18, there are 27.6% fewer new contracts compared to the same time last year. However, the # of New Contracts/Pending Sales did increase 31% compared to the previous week. So this figure is encouraging. I can personally report that on April 18, I had 9 properties scheduled to show my buyers, and of those 9, 5 went into contract that day or shortly after. These properties ranged in asking price from $340,000 to $390,000. We definitely have buyers out there taking advantage of low interest rates and scooping up homes.

# of New Listings during the week ending April 18 declined 19.5% compared to the previous week, and a staggering 54% compared to the same time last year.Will this low inventory keep our prices steady? We shall see…

Summing It Up…

• With the use of a “Coronavirus Property Entry Advisory & Declaration,” and strict practice of social distancing guidelines, real estate activity in Nevada continues.
• Properties in Nevada are shown by appointment only. Owner-occupied homes and vacant properties are permitted to be shown, while all tenant-occupied properties are prohibited from showings. Traditional open houses are also not permissible.
• Though sales volume, new contracts and new listings are significantly down compared to the same time period last year, single-family home prices do not seem to be affected. Median Sales Price, as seen in the above chart, is hovering around $400k and even appears to be edging up since mid February.
• Mortgage interest rates are still VERY LOW… For home purchase and re-financing information and rates that apply to you, contact me, and I’ll introduce you to a reputable local lender.
• While growing unemployment is still a major concern, we look forward to the return of business activity throughout the US and the continuance of our thriving Nevada economy.
• While many Californias currently are suffering an economic hit, our suspicion is that those who were already planning a relocation to Nevada will be even more motivated once their feet are back on the ground. We just need to get on the other side of “the curve.”
• For more information about specific property values and to search real estate for when YOU are ready to purchase/sell, please do not hesitate to call me at 775-233-0682 or email dhallerbach@intero.com.