Unfortunately, Las Vegas home prices bucked the national trend by falling in May according to Standard & Poor’s monthly S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices report. Prices in Las Vegas fell 0.5% from April to May and were off 6.5% compared to May 2009.
As for the rest of the country, home prices in May in the 20 markets tracked by the report rose 1.3% from April to May and were up 4.6% from May 2009.
“In May, Las Vegas posted a new index low as measured by the current housing cycle, where it peaked in August 2006,” S&P said in today’s report. “The peak-to-trough figure is -56.4%, with that market generally returning any gains it had posted since 2000.”
The Las Vegas housing market has taken quite a beating due to the nation’s second highest unemployment rate, highest per-capita rate of foreclosures, failed short sales, and highest per-capita rate of bankruptcies.
Even more, the Las Vegas housing market will continue to decline due to the expiration of the first time home buyer credit. “We need to watch where the housing markets will go after these temporary stimuli go away. June’s existing and new home sales and housing starts data do not show much real improvement in those statistics either. It still looks possible that the housing market might bounce along the bottom for the foreseeable future before showing any real improvement that will filter through to the rest of the economy,” today’s S&P report said. Randy M. Creighton, Esq.
