Reno's median home price hits $550,000 as inventory further tightens

Another month, another record-high median home price for greater Reno-Sparks.

On June 8, the Reno/Sparks Association of Realtors released its May 2021 report, highlighted by a $550,000 median sales price for existing single-family homes in the Reno/North Valleys market, besting the previous record of $515,000 in March. It’s a whopping 37.5% year-over-year increase from May 2020.

What’s more, last month was the first-ever time Reno-Sparks as a whole breached the $500,000 median home price mark: May 2021’s median of $502,000 was a 1.5% increase from April’s $494,500 mark — and a 25.5% increase from May 2020, when the price was $399,900.

Meanwhile, the median home price in Sparks/Spanish Springs came in at $453,500 in May — while that’s down 1.4% from April’s record-high median of $456,000, it’s still up a generous 17.8% from May 2020.

The upticks come amid decreases in both active inventory and days to contract across Reno-Sparks — the latter coming in at just 14 days in May 2021, marking a 23.8% decrease from the previous month.

The combination is a byproduct of the fact more buyers are making all-cash offers for homes, meaning “buyers who rely on traditional mortgage financing need to make sure their offers remain competitive,” according to RSAR’s June 8 report.

“The inventory of homes for sale continued to tighten during May,” Gary MacDonald, RSAR president, said in a statement. “The active inventory at the end of the month declined by 13% and stood at 300 homes — well under a month’s supply at the current pace of sales.”

Below are some other highlights from the May 2021 report:

• Reno/Sparks recorded 535 single-family home sales, an increase of 32.4% from last year and an 8.1% decrease from April 2021.
• Of that total, 368 sales occurred in Reno/North Valleys — up 29.1% from last year and down 12.6% from the previous month.
• The other 167 home sales occurred in Sparks/Spanish Springs — up 40.3% from last year and up 3.7% from April 2021.
• The median sales price of an existing condominium/townhome in Reno/Sparks was $315,000, up 16.7% from last year. In Reno, the median was $317,450, up 17.6% from last year, while the median in Sparks was $297,000, up 3.5% from a year ago.

According to historical data compiled by Reno Realtor Guy Johnson on his blog, Reno Realty Blog, May 2021’s regional median price of $502,000 represents a 235% increase from 10 years ago, when the median price came in at $150,000 in May 2011.

Since the start of the century, the Reno-Sparks median price bottomed out at $135,000 in January 2012; comparing that figure to May 2021, it’s a 272% increase.

It’s not just greater Reno/Sparks that’s seeing increased home prices.

RSAR also covers the Fernley market. There, the median home price for May 2021 came in at a record-high $352,500, an increase of 40% from May 2020 and up 6.8% from April 2021. In all, 49 homes were sold in Fernley last month — up 53.1% from May 2020 and down 9.3% from April 2021.

Branching out in Northern Nevada, following are median sold prices reported in May 2021 by the Sierra Nevada Realtors association for other main markets:

• Carson City: $455,000, up 8.4% from April 2021
• Fallon: $275,000, down 7.9%
• Gardnerville/Minden/Topaz: $560,000, up 6.4%
• Lyon County: $389,500, up 3.9%
• Lake Tahoe, East Shore: $1.16 million, down 31.6% (12 total homes sold in May)

Meanwhile, in Incline Village, the median home price was $1.8 million in May, when 12 homes were sold, according to the Incline Village Realtors group. It’s a considerable decrease from April’s median price of $2.73 million (comprised of 16 home sales).

All three Realtor Associations compile monthly reports based on information derived from the Northern Nevada Regional MLS.