Houses and Human Folly

Now, friends, if you’ve ever tried to keep a roof over your head and four walls around your supper table, you know the housing market is as unpredictable as a goose in a thunderstorm. The well-meaning folks over at the Sierra Nevada Realtors released their March 2025 ledger on the comings and goings of homes in Carson City and the counties of Churchill, Douglas, Lyon, and Washoe—though Incline Village, with all its lakefront pomposity, was left to fend for itself.

The report offers a glimpse into the real estate shenanigans of the Silver State. And what it shows is something between a boom and a bustle–the median price across all five counties for single-family homes, condominiums, and townhouses now sits pretty at $525,000. That’s a hop, skip, and a 0.8 percent jump from February. Meanwhile, the total number of homes sold is up a hearty 15.3 percent—enough to make a banker grin and a carpenter curse his luck for not charging more.

In Carson City, 61 brave souls traded property deeds in March—a tiny drop of 1.6 percent from February and a 3.2 percent tumble from last year. The median price was $517,000, just a shade lower than February but 4.4 percent higher than last year. The number of homes just sitting there, hoping for a buyer, was down to 107, 13 percent fewer than last month and a full 25.2 percent fewer than last spring, meaning supply is tighter than a miser’s purse.

Churchill County—where the sagebrush outnumbers the people ten to one—had 22 sales in March, which is quite the climb from February’s 29.4 percent but still down 12 percent from last year’s tally. Folks there fetched a median of $400,000 per sale–a respectable gain monthly and annually.

Douglas County, nestled between the mountains and the meadows, 50 homes changed hands—down two percent from February and 7.4 percent from last year. Still, the median price jumped to $730,000, which will buy you a fine view and maybe a marmot in the backyard. That’s up 6.1 percent from the month prior, though down 5.7 percent from the same month in 2024.

Over in Lyon County, including manufactured homes and stick-built dwellings, saw a whopping 111 sales in March—up 54.2 percent from February, though just a tick of 0.9 percent below last year. The median price was $409,000, marking steady climbs month-over-month and year-over-year. Folks there evidently still appreciate a bargain and a good patch of dirt.

Then there’s Washoe County, a sprawling domain that skips over Incline Village but includes Reno and all its ambition. Washoe saw 668 new listings and 465 homes sold in March. The median sale price was $544,900, up 1.9 percent from February and 1.7 percent over last year. The inventory of homes stood at 1,077, which is a touch better than February’s 1.6 percent and a lot better than last March, with 36.3 percent more to choose from.

All in all–prices are inching up, sales are moving briskly, and inventory is playing a curious game of hide and seek, depending on where you hang your hat.