Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Report: Las Vegas home prices up, breaking 39-month trend

Updated Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2010 | 9:59 a.m.

Las Vegas home prices finally turned positive in December after 39 months of declines as measured by the widely followed Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices.

Debt rating agency Standard & Poor's today said Las Vegas prices rose 0.2 percent in December.

Not only did Las Vegas prices finally rise on a month-to-month basis, Las Vegas out-performed most other big U.S. cities in December. Prices on average fell 0.24 percent in the 20 big U.S. cities included in the study.

The gain in December for Las Vegas compares to a decline in local home prices of 0.5 percent between October and November.

However, in year-to-year price declines in the report, Las Vegas led the nation among the 20 cities tracked.

Las Vegas prices were down 20.6 percent, comparing December 2008 to December 2009. The average decline of the 20 cities during this period was 3.1 percent.

Overall, Standard & Poor's said December U.S. home sales produced mixed results.

"As measured by prices, the housing market is definitely in better shape than it was this time last year, as the pace of deterioration has stabilized for now. However, the rate of improvement seen during the summer of 2009 has not been sustained," David M. Blitzer, chairman of the Index Committee at Standard & Poor's, said in a statement. "In the most recent months we are seeing fewer and fewer MSAs (metropolitan statistical areas) reporting monthly gains in prices.''

Separately, SalesTraq today reported the median home price in the Las Vegas area in January was unchanged from December at $120,000.

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