Report: Las Vegas home prices edge up, show continued weakness

By Steve Green

Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2010 | 8:52 a.m.

First, the good news about Las Vegas-area home prices: They edged up 0.1 percent in August from July as measured by the national Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices.

The bad news, however, is that Las Vegas housing prices in August were down 4.5 percent from August 2009, according to S&P/Case-Shiller's latest report issued today.

That's by far the worst performance among the 20 cities in the index, which together yielded an average year-over-year home price increase of 1.7 percent.

More recent data from the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors show the median single-family home price in Southern Nevada during September was $135,000, down 3.6 percent from $140,000 in August and down 2.2 percent from September of 2009.

With unemployment at 15 percent, big price increases anytime soon in Las Vegas are unlikely.

Today's Standard & Poor's/Case Shiller numbers illustrate continued economic stress and an uneven housing recovery around the country.

Year-over-year price changes include Atlanta, down 2 percent; Chicago, down 2.9 percent; Los Angeles, up 5.4 percent, Phoenix, up 0.4 percent; and San Francisco, up 7.8 percent.

Standard & Poor's analyst David Blitzer today said the housing market overall appears to have stabilized at new lows.

"At this time, it does not seem that any of the markets are hanging on to the temporary momentum caused by the homebuyers' tax credits," he said.