Big Demand for Homes in 2015

Since the recession ended, home buying has been on the rise in Northern Nevada. The median home price last year was $245,000 according to The Reno-Sparks Association of Realtors. Its a 15% increase from the year before. New business developments are also driving up home sales in 2015. 

We checked in with local realtors to see the impact they see here. We're told property values for many homes has increased 30-50% since 2010, and many homes in the Reno-Sparks area are in high demand.

Channel 2 News took a drive through South Reno, where several houses were up for sale. Last year, 5,963 homes were sold in the Reno and Sparks area and this year there could be more. Just in the past two years there's been a 20% to 30% percent gain in home values. "It's a pretty balanced market in terms of being a good time both to sell and to buy," said RE/MAX realtor Justin Hertz.

Justin Hertz has been working in Reno for about 10 years and has seen the market through different phases. He says now, as new businesses move into the area the demand for homes has gone way up since the announcement of Tesla Motors, Switch and other companies coming to town.

Inside the homes, features and upgrades people are looking for are mostly upgrades to common rooms with stainless steel appliances. "The two big things that always sell homes is an updated kitchen and updated master bathroom," said Hertz.

Incentives for buyers in the beginning of 2015 appear to be some of the lowest interest rates people have seen in a while. We talked with Greater Nevada Mortgage to crunch the numbers. "We're experiencing record-low interest rates. In fact they are the second lowest this week since 1971," said Nick Serrano the Vice President of Mortgage and Lending.  Experts say as the housing market picks up, it means the economy is improving. "We have seen consumer confidence come back into this housing market and that's really important when you want your housing market to rebound," said Serrano. 

The downside to the uptick in sales right now appears to be not enough homes available for people to choose from and purchase. "I think we have more buyers out there then there are properties to sell," said Hertz.

Housing developments and expansions are something the City of Reno has been working on to accommodate the growing work force. "Now is an amazing time to sell because there is still a lack of inventory and so you can really maximize the value in terms of what you can get for your house," said Hertz.

City of Reno officials told Channel 2 News they are working on projects to create more multi-family to single family homes in the North Valleys, Cold Springs and Lemmon Valley area. Most of those developments are still in the planning stages.