(The Center Square) – Housing sales and prices in Las Vegas continued to fall through September as mortgage rates rose above 7%.
The Federal Reserve raised interest rates in mid-September, increasing mortgage rates and contributing to a dual decline in prices and sales for the Las Vegas housing market.
“You’ve got higher rates, which are dropping demand,” said George Kypreos, president of the Las Vegas Realtors, the largest Realtors association in Nevada,.
“But that delta between the rates sellers have is so high that they’re not willing to bring their homes to market, so inventory’s staying down,” Kypreos told The Center Square
Kypreos added that many homeowners currently have considerably lower mortgage rates than the current rate. During the pandemic, 30-year rates went as low as 2.65% according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Saint Louis. After the Federal Reserve announced interest rates would rise from 3.75% to 4% in mid-September, the October average mortgage rate skyrocketed to 7.28%.
“With the interest rates being as high as they are, people don’t want to refinance – or people can’t afford to refinance,” Maurice Page, executive director for affordable housing advocacy group the Nevada Housing Coalition, told The Center Square.
The LVR published a report on Las Vegas housing trends for September on Tuesday, finding that housing prices had largely stagnated from September 2025, and decreased from all-time highs over the summer. They also found that housing sales had decreased from the previous year.
Single-family homes in Southern Nevada were sold for $470,000 on average across September, down 1.1% from the previous month and the same as Sept. 2025. The all-time high for the area was $490,000 in May and June.
Condos and townhouses in Southern Nevada went for $290,000 on average across September, down 1.4% from last year. The all-time high for the area was $315,000 in Oct. 2024.
The LVR report also showed that home sales were down 7.4% from last year and down 12.6% for condos and townhomes. Across the year, home sales this year have been similar to 2025, which was the lowest annual sales total since 2007 for the area.
The findings were complemented by Zillow’s September report, which found the average Las Vegas home to be valued at $442,534, down 2.7% from the previous year. They also estimated the number of property sales decreased 2.5% over the last year.
Along with high mortgage rates, many Nevadans are feeling a general economic squeeze.
“People are strapped for cash,” said Page. “With where the economy is at right now, some folks that are in their homes don’t even want to sell because they’re not given the value that they were getting last year.”
Page named utility, transportation, childcare and groceries as some of the top economic concerns of the moment. He added that incomes in the state had not kept up with the rising costs.
He argued the state should open up more publicly owned land for housing development and otherwise focus on bringing in more revenue for the state. According to Nevada Policy, roughly 85% of Nevada is publicly owned.
“We’ve caught a little bit of a cold,” argued Kypreos. “Rates have slowed things down a bit, gas is expensive and people are feeling pinched, and they’re just not moving around as much.”
But Kypreos also added that there were longer term issues impacting the housing market and wider economy in Nevada.
“Entry level first-time buyers are now approaching 40 [years-old], which historically is just so high,” said Kypreos. “It’s so much harder for people to actually buy a house today, because of the affordability factor, and that’s so unfortunate.”
The Nevada Department of Business and Industry, which oversees the Nevada Real Estate Division, did not respond to questions from The Center Square in time for publication.
