Report: With prices dropping, interest in Las Vegas real estate steady

By Steve Green

Friday, Feb. 13, 2009 | 10:19 a.m.

During both good and bad economic times, three communities in Las Vegas and Henderson remain among the most popular for homebuyers in Southern Nevada.

That was confirmed today by online real estate brokerage ZipRealty.com of Emeryville, Calif., which issued a report listing the cities most frequently searched on its home-selling Web site.

Among 5,400 cities within 31 markets, Phoenix was the most searched in the fourth quarter of 2008, with Summerlin in Las Vegas ranked No. 4, Green Valley in Henderson ranked No. 12 and Anthem/Seven Hills in Henderson ranked No. 19.

Four of the top 10 cities searched were in the Phoenix area; with the Orlando, Fla.; Atlanta, Houston, Irvine, Calif.; and Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; areas also making the Top 10.

"Homebuyers have long-flocked to sunshine states to find their permanent residence, a second home or even an investment property. Combining warm weather with declining home prices and an increase in foreclosure properties is a recipe that's attracting potential homebuyers to cities in the Southwest, Southeast and much of California," ZipRealty Vice President Leslie Tyler said in a statement.

ZipRealty said it had 2 million unique users during the quarter, but didn’t break out the number of users interested in the Southern Nevada communities.

Separately, the Las Vegas area’s real estate market is receiving some positive national attention because it’s now more affordable to buy here.

Money Magazine this week listed Las Vegas as being among the nation’s more affordable retirement destinations.

"Prices in once frothy retirement havens like Las Vegas, Naples, Fla., and Phoenix have tumbled more than 30 percent since peaking in 2006," Money said. "Sure, values may go lower still, given forecasts that the housing market will stay soft through 2009. Picking the exact bottom is a dicey game, however. And in any case, the question that matters most to retirement buyers is not what price the house you want will sell for next year, but whether it will be worth more than what you paid for it in, say, 10 or 15 years."