Posted by Jed Lewison on Sat Oct 6, 2007 at 11:52 AM Pacific

Surprise! Another drop in real estate values here in Las Vegas.

In September, the median home price fell nearly 8% compared to one year ago and overall sales volume dropped 43%. There is a 22 month supply of homes and 45% of the homes on the market are vacant, compared to 3% nationally. (According to the LVRJ, these numbers are from the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors.)

My favorite quote from the article is this one, given by the head of the LV realtors:

"If a seller will sell at a price and a buyer will buy, so be it. Value is determined by what the seller is asking and what the buyer is paying. With 5,000 people coming a month, maybe we're undervalued."

Ah, so it is 5,000 new residents a month now? I remember just a couple of years ago, the pitch was that there were 10,000 new residents a month.

Moreover, the pitch was that the land out here was running out. What a joke, that idea was. The land running out? You ever fly into Las Vegas? We're in the friggin' desert. The land ain't runnin' out. Yes, there's a thing called the disposable land boundary, beyond which Vegas cannot grow -- under current law. But that is a political boundary -- a simple act of Congress can change it.

In fact, work is already underway to expand the boundary, a fact which should continue to help real estate prices here return to earth.

Surprise! Another drop in real estate values here in Las Vegas.

In September, the median home price fell nearly 8% compared to one year ago and overall sales volume dropped 43%. There is a 22 month supply of homes and 45% of the homes on the market are vacant, compared to 3% nationally. (According to the LVRJ, these numbers are from the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors.)

My favorite quote from the article is this one, given by the head of the LV realtors:

"If a seller will sell at a price and a buyer will buy, so be it. Value is determined by what the seller is asking and what the buyer is paying. With 5,000 people coming a month, maybe we're undervalued."

Ah, so it is 5,000 new residents a month now? I remember just a couple of years ago, the pitch was that there were 10,000 new residents a month.

Moreover, the pitch was that the land out here was running out. What a joke, that idea was. The land running out? You ever fly into Las Vegas? We're in the friggin' desert. The land ain't runnin' out. Yes, there's a thing called the disposable land boundary, beyond which Vegas cannot grow -- under current law. But that is a political boundary -- a simple act of Congress can change it.

In fact, work is already underway to expand the boundary, a fact which should continue to help real estate prices here return to earth.

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