Las Vegans see 12.8 percent annual rise

By HUBBLE SMITH REVIEW-JOURNAL
Las Vegas real estate reached another milestone last month, with median prices for Las Vegas homes sold by Realtors hitting $300,000, according to the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors.

The median price, which includes new and used Las Vegas homes sold through the Multiple Listing Service, represents a 1 percent increase from April and a 12.8 percent increase from the same month a year ago.

"We're a very healthy market, and that's what the price increase points to," said Linda Rheinberger, owner of Las Vegas No Ka Oi Realty and president-elect of the Realtors association. "We've got stable interest rates and a steady increase in sales."

The $300,000 milestone is confirmed by other Las Vegas real estate figures.

Median prices for new Las Vegas homes reached $304,734 in March, excluding condominium conversions, said Dennis Smith, president of Home Builders Research. They rose to $310,000 in April.

Home Builders Research uses recorded deeds from the Clark County Assessor's Office to calculate its numbers, while the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors' numbers are based on new and existing homes sold by member agents.

The data are deemed reliable, but not guaranteed. They do not account for new Las Vegas homes sold by local builders, sales by owners and other transactions not handled by Las Vegas Realtors.

It was the third straight month of median price increases reported by the Las Vegas Realtors association.

Last year, Las Vegas led the nation in housing price appreciation at more than 50 percent, the National Association of Realtors reported.

Rheinberger said we did see a "slight correction" of prices in Las Vegas and it took home sellers about five or six months to realize that the market had stabilized.

The Las Vegas home buying frenzy in 2004 that brought multiple offers above list prices subsided as investors moved on to Arizona and other states.

"Because we've got a lot of things going for us, we're still in a growth mode," she said. "Our median price is high, but not as high as other areas. We still have room for upward mobility. There's no indication we're in a bubble.

"People are coming here, jobs are plentiful, our tax structure and climate are extremely desirable. This level (of price increase) is exactly what we've been experiencing. It's normal for us."

Las Vegas Homes continue to sell more quickly than they did earlier in the year, with 48.5 percent selling in 30 days or less in May, compared with 37.6 percent in January.

The number of available Las Vegas homes listed for sale in May grew to 15,066, up 1.6 percent from April and 50 percent from a year ago.

Smith said Las Vegas has been an anomaly when compared with other housing markets around the country for the last 15 to 20 years, benefiting from strong job and population growth, a growing segment of retirees and billions of dollars in gaming expansion.

"And let's not forget our neighbor to the west, California ," he said. "A strong California housing market translates to equity-rich consumers that like to spend some of that money in Las Vegas ."

Smith said things are still looking good in California , and many of the country's hottest housing markets are in the Golden State .

The June issue of Money magazine showed median prices of single-family homes stood at $554,000 in San Diego , $750,000 in San Francisco , $610,000 in Orange County and $442,000 in Los Angeles-Long Beach.

Some markets are cheaper than Las Vegas , including Fresno ($243,000), Bakersfield ($195,000) and Chico-Paradise ($250,000).