Report: Las Vegas home price increase lags other cities

By Steve Green

Tuesday, June 29, 2010 | 9 a.m.

Las Vegas home prices edged up in April as measured by the closely followed Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices.

But, Standard & Poor's said today, the U.S. gaming capital still trails other big cities in the recovery of residential real estate prices. Las Vegas has been hit hard during the recession by the foreclosure crisis and soaring unemployment, which in May ran at 14.1 percent locally and has been in double digits for 17 consecutive months.

Las Vegas prices increased 0.2 percent from March to April, S&P said. That compares to the average increase in 20 markets of 0.8 percent. The Las Vegas performance marked an improvement from March, when prices locally fell 0.8 percent from February.

On a year-over-year basis, Las Vegas prices were down 8.5 percent in April vs. a 3.8 percent average increase for the 20 markets included in the report.

Nationwide, despite the April increases, home prices aren't yet showing signs of sustained recovery, today's S&P/Case Shiller report said.

"The month-over-month figures were driven by the end of the federal first-time home buyer tax credit program on April 30th. Eighteen cities saw month-to-month gains in April compared to six in the previous month," David M. Blitzer, chairman of the Index Committee at Standard & Poor's, said in a statement today. "Other housing data confirm the large impact, and likely near-future pullback, of the federal program. Recently released data for May 2010 show sharp declines in existing and new home sales and housing starts. Inventory data and foreclosure activity have not shown any signs of improvement. Consistent and sustained boosts to economic growth from housing may have to wait to next year."

Last week, local real estate analysis firm SalesTraq reported that existing home closings in Las Vegas in May fell to 4,186, down from 4,323 in April and 1.6 percent below sales levels of May 2009.

Existing home prices locally fell from $126,000 on average in April to $122,847 in May, which has been within the range of prices since April 2009, SalesTraq data show.