Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

20-city index shows Las Vegas alone in home price decline

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On the market: Homes are shown for sale in Sun City Anthem.

Las Vegas-area home prices fell again in June as high unemployment and foreclosures continued to dampen the market.

Debt-rating agency Standard & Poor's today issued its monthly S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, and they once again show the Southern Nevada real estate market continues to lag the national market.

While prices in the 20 big cities included in the index rose an average of 1 percent from May to June, they fell 0.6 percent in Las Vegas.

That follows a local decline of 0.5 percent from April to May.

Of the 20 cities in the report, 17 showed increases, two were flat and Las Vegas alone saw a decrease from May to June.

Compared to June 2009, Las Vegas prices in June were down 5.2 percent vs. the 20-city average increase of 4.2 percent.

"Even with concerns about near-term developments, we recognize that the housing market is in better shape than this time last year. Further, California's cities have moved from some of the hardest hit to three of the four leading cities based on year-over-year gains. Among the other hard-hit cities, the news is also a bit encouraging – Las Vegas, however, remains among the weaker cities,'' David Blitzer, chairman of the Index Committee at Standard & Poor's, said in a statement.

"The worry starts when you remember that the Homebuyers' Tax Credit has expired, foreclosures are still at high levels and July data on home sales and starts were very, very weak. The inventory of unsold homes and months' supply data were particularly troubling. If this relative weakness in demand continues, it will likely filter through to home prices in coming months," he said.

The Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors earlier this month reported the median single-family home price in Southern Nevada during July was $135,000, down 3.6 percent from $140,000 in June and down 2.7 percent from July 2009.

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