Las Vegas results mixed amid broad U.S. housing downturn

By Steve Green

Tuesday, March 29, 2011 | 8 a.m.

U.S. home prices fell broadly in January, with Las Vegas producing mixed results, Standard & Poor's reported today.

The debt rating agency issued its monthly S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices and they showed prices fell 1 percent from December for the 20 big cities tracked in the report -- with prices in Las Vegas falling 0.3 percent.

Comparing January with January 2010, prices fell 3.1 percent for the 20 cities and were down 4.4 percent in Las Vegas.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, prices rose 0.3 percent in Las Vegas from December to January -- a turnaround from a decline of 0.5 percent from November to December.

These numbers compare to statistics from the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors showing the median single-family home price locally during February was $128,000, up 2.4 percent from $125,000 in January.

Las Vegas-area prices were down 5.7 percent from February 2010, the Realtors reported.

Nationwide, the Standard & Poor's numbers issued today were considered disappointing.

"January brings us weakening home prices with no real hope in sight for the near future," David Blitzer, chairman of the Index Committee at Standard & Poor's, said in a statement. "These data confirm what we have seen with recent housing starts and sales reports. The housing market recession is not yet over, and none of the statistics are indicating any form of sustained recovery.''

Last month, Standard & Poor's said Las Vegas home prices slid in December to prices not seen since 1999.

That held true in today's report, which noted: "Continuing the trend set late last year, we witnessed 11 metropolitan statistical areas posting new index level lows in January 2011, from their 2006/2007 peaks. These cities are Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicago, Detroit, Las Vegas, Miami, New York, Phoenix, Portland, Ore., Seattle and Tampa. These same 11 cities had posted lows with December's report, as well."