Increasing Numbers Come To Live in Sin City

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Increasing Numbers Come
To Live in Sin City

By Maura Webber Sadovi
Special to The Wall Street Journal Online

Suggestive tourism ads may promote Las Vegas as a wild place to love and leave, but many new arrivals are opting to settle down in Sin City. The region's population gained about 201,000 residents, or 15%, to 1.58 million from 2000 to 2003, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Only the metro areas of smaller Greeley, Colo., and St. George, Utah, saw bigger percentage gains and early estimates suggest new residents continue to pour in.

This four-bedroom, two-bath Las Vegas home recently sold for $304,000.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Las Vegas' red-hot housing market reflects the region's status as the country's fastest-growing major metropolitan area. New home sales in the Las Vegas area are on pace to beat last year's record of 29,248 according to the Southern Nevada Home Builders Association, and the third-quarter apartment vacancy rate of 4.1% was the lowest of the major markets surveyed by Property & Portfolio Research Inc.

Still, there are some signs that the market is cooling. "Housing prices are still going up but they're steady now rather than insane," said Myrna Kingham, president of the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors. The median price of a single-family home rose about 11% to $310,000 in September from a year earlier, according to the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors. That compares to a median price increase of some 51% in September, 2004 from September, 2003. Though inventory levels are still falling, the number of new listings posted for sale in the third quarter fell 16% to 16,031 from 19,012 a year earlier.

Las Vegas Market Snapshot

	3rd Quarter 2005		3rd Quarter 2004
Median Home Price*	$310,000		$280,000
Median Condo Price	$199,700		$174,999
SF Homes Available	13,221		15,758
SF Homes Sold	9,556		9,511
Average Apartment Rent	$825		$780
Apartment Vacancy Rate	4.1%		5.6%

Sources: Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors, Property & Portfolio Research, Inc.

Coming up tomorrow, a look at the commercial real-estate market in Las Vegas.

Email your comments to rjeditor@dowjones.com.

-- November 09, 2005