The Las Vegas housing boom has cooled! Las Vegas real estate market analysts are projecting single-digit appreciation rates for 2006. This compares with 20 percent appreciation during 2005 and 40 percent appreciation in 2004. Linda Rheinberger, President of the Realtors’ Association states, ‘We’re definitely softening, definitely slowing down. We’re catching our breath and getting ready for the next boom.”

Housing market statistics released by the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors show that the seller’s market of 2004 continues not only to cool but to have reversed as the number of homes for sale during February 2006 has reached 17,675. This number is 7.2 percent more than in January 2006 and 25.9 percent more than a year ago. In addition, new home sales of 1,787 during February 2006 represent a 12.3 percent decrease from twelve months ago.

On the other hand, the market for Las Vegas condominiums and town homes continues to strengthen. The 484 condo and town home sales during February 2006 are 6 percent more than the number sold during February 2005. The condo and town home market had $103.1 million in sales during February 2006 which is a 15.8 percent increase over the same period during 2005.

The booming housing market of the last few years has been a boon to the economy as consumers withdrew the equity in their homes. Nationally, homeowners withdrew the equity from their homes at a record annual rate of more than $600 billion in 2005 as compared to less than $200 billion a year in 1999.

The high-rise condo project market in Las Vegas has gone through flux in the last year. Almost 100 high-rise condo projects have been announced in the Valley; six of these have failed in the last year. These include Krystal Sands, Aqua Blue and Ivana Los Vegas. The boom of 2004 led some companies to start marketing their condo projects even before they had been designed. Some of the marketing teams were putting prices at a level that could not be justified. Other developers found that initially-set prices were unrealistic as construction costs escalated.

Other condo developers have learned from this and are waiting until they are further into the construction cost process before setting prices and initiating sales. These include Pinnacle on Tropicana Avenue, Las Vegas Central, Renaissance, and Cielo Vista. For availability and reservation forms for any of the high-rise condo projects currently on the market contact us for the latest information.

If you are planning on looking for Las Vegas homes for sale, contact us for a prompt response. We invite you to visit our website to view updated daily listings of Las Vegas homes for sale at Free Las Vegas Homes MLS Search


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