Weekly Watch (Week Ending May 16, 2020)

As many Nevada business are beginning to enter Phase 2 of re-opening, we at Intero Real Estate Services are continuing to keep a very close eye on when is happening in the Greater Reno-Sparks real estate market. “The Weekly Watch” provides you with the most current information on a weekly basis to help you make informed decisions regarding your investments.   The graphs below represent activity for single-family residences (excluding condos, townhouses and new construction) from the week ending May 16, 2020 compared to the previous week and year.  The numbers are subject to change slightly, due to late reporting by real estate agents to Northern Nevada Multiple Listing Service.

At $389,500, the Median Sales Price the week ending May 16, was slightly lower (-1.6%) than the previous week, and 7.4% higher than the same time last year.  The median sales price has not dropped below the $390,000 threshold since mid February.  Overall, the Median Sales Price in Reno-Sparks has been holding fairly steady through the COVID-19 crisis.

The # of Closed Sales rose 22.2% from the week ending May 9 to the week ending May 16.  Sales volume is still about 36% down from the same period in time last year.  This lower sales volume has also been a fairly consistent statistic since early to mid April.

During the week ending May 16, single family homes that sold took an average of 32 days to go into contract.  Week-over-week, there was no significant change in the # of Days to Contract and compared to this same week in 2019, the # of Days to Contract has increased 17.7%.  This stat is representative of properties that went into contract about 30 days ago, a customary timeframe for escrow.

The # of Active single family homes available for sale dropped slightly (-2.6%) week-over-week.  The Active Inventory mirrors the # of Sold Properties this week compared to last year, in that we have 32.4% fewer active listings available for purchase year-over-year.

After a significant spike in the # of Withdrawn, Temporarily Withdrawn, or Expired Listings a few weeks ago,  this pull-back activity has drastically dropped another 71.4% from the week ending May 9.  While only 4 properties were removed from the market this year, 20 single family homes where pulled this same time last year.

Once again!!  The brightest news of the market is the 6-week upward trend of the # of New Contracts/Pending Sales.  The week ending May 16 saw a 23.7% leap compared to the week ending May 9, and a slight increase of 1.4% since mid-May 2019.

A more detailed look at the # of New Contracts/Pending Sales in the chart above shows that, the $300k to $800k priced single family homes showed an increase of New Contracts week-over-week.  And 4 of those 5 price ranges revealed an increase in New Contracts from this same week last year.  VERY encouraging news!

The # of New Listings is still lagging a bit, with 13% fewer homes being listed the week ending May 16 compared to the week ending May 9.  Consistent with the # of Sold Units this week AND the # of Active Listings, the New Listing count is down about 34% compared to this same week last year.

Summing It Up…

• With the re-opening of businesses across the states, and increased activity of potential buyers over state borders, the real estate market in Northern Nevada continues to forge ahead through the current global health crisis.
• While Sales Volume, Inventory and the # of New Listings are all down about 36%, 32% and 34% respectively compared last year, the market is concurrently experiencing a upward trend in new contracts that should result in an increase in sales volume in the coming months.
• Buyer demand continues to keep pace with the rate of sale in the low inventory climate, and Sellers are receiving an average of 99.1% of their list price. Therefore, the Median Sales Price has been bopping above and below the $400k mark for several weeks.  The rate of market appreciation appears to be on idle through this strange COVID-19 time.
• According to Bankrate.com, the average benchmark mortgage interest rate today (May 21, 2020) is still low… At 3.54% the average rate is down 2 basis points over the last 7 days.  Naturally, rates can fluctuate from day to day, and are reflective of the borrowers strength of employment history, credit score and debit-to-income ratio.  If you are looking to purchase now and need to connect with a great lender to find your best mortgage rate, contact me.  I’ll point you in the right direction!
• 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.