Carson City home market ‘trying to find its balance’

Carson City home sales data for the month of October show a market potentially cooling off but still stable.

According to market statistics released by Sierra Nevada Realtors, there were 36 closed sales in October, down 50 percent from the previous year but only 27 percent compared to September. The median sales price for a home in Carson City is $491,750, still a 5 percent increase from the previous year, though an 11 percent drop from September’s high of $550,000.

“The Northern Nevada real estate market is trying to find its balance due to the economy and interest rates,” said Mary Jo Brummer of Carson-based the Brummer Group. “This is why the statistics seem confusing. This area will always be an important location for purchasing and selling real estate. Our proximity to California is important as so many of our buyers have the desire to move to a state with favorable tax laws and still be close enough to family members that still live in California.”

Jim Valentine of RE/MAX Realty Affiliates in Gardnerville said a seller’s market is one with less than six months of supply.

“It’s still a seller’s market,” he said. “It’s a good market, a slower market, not as active, not as frenetic.”

The SNR data for Carson shows the median “days on market” increased 250 percent year-over-year to 42 days. Month-to-month, the increase was 75 percent compared to September.

Valentine said people in the market are adjusting to new interest rates, which have been historically low the last decade but are now rising.

According to the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, most lenders in Nevada are offering mortgage interest rates at or below 7.125 percent.

“What we see affecting prices is an increase in interest rates. Buying power of buyers has gone down,” said Valentine. “Buyers are wondering if prices are going down and if they should wait.”

The same applies to sellers, especially those with existing low-rate mortgages, Valentine said.

“Everybody is holding and waiting,” he said.

Valentine emphasized the real estate market is not heading for a crash.

“What happened in 2008 is not going to happen this time,” he said. “We’re actually in quite a stable market with a lot of people wanting to do business.”

This means new homes being built as well. Several single-family housing projects in Carson City will add hundreds of new homes to existing inventory. For example, the eastern part of the Andersen Ranch project, east of Ormsby Boulevard, and the Blackstone project near North Saliman Road are both under construction.

“California drives our market, and areas there are hurting where they’re not selling like they used to, but they’re still selling,” Valentine said. “The market is still good for those who truly want to sell or buy.”