Friday, April 11, 2014

Las Vegas Sees Steady Appreciation in 2013




After spending years deep in the red, Las Vegas home price appreciation rates returned to the black in 2012 in all but three of the valley’s 58 ZIP codes, SalesTraq housing research firm reported.

The largest gain was in ZIP code 89030, an area of North Las Vegas around Interstate 15 and Cheyenne Avenue, where median home prices increased 21.1 percent last year, to $45,000.

Ironically, 89030 was also one of the hardest-hit ZIP codes for foreclosures, not just in the Las Vegas Valley, but in the nation. That same turnabout is reflected in many of the ZIP codes that posted double-digit appreciation in 2012.

“In terms of rate of price appreciation, select areas that were hardest-hit have seen some pickup in the last year as prices over-corrected in those areas,” SalesTraq housing analyst Brian Gordon said. “They experienced greater-than-average depreciation and they now have some of the greatest demand and lowest availability, which have helped to drive prices north.”

The negative numbers came in outlying areas such as 89085, the northern-most ZIP code in the Aliante master-planned community of North Las Vegas. Prices dropped 3.5 percent there, from $168,000 in 2011 to $162,100 last year.

Buyers are less willing to pay higher prices for homes that are farthest away from their place of employment, shopping centers, parks and schools, Gordon said. Areas closer to the Beltway in Aliante, such as 89084 and 89086, showed 3.5 percent and 2.9 percent appreciation, respectively.

Home values in Boulder City (89005), which was not included in previous ZIP code reports, depreciated 8.5 percent to $151,000 in 2012.

“If you look at the Las Vegas Valley, you’d see that nearly every ZIP code showed positive appreciation,” Gordon said. “The areas that experienced the most significant growth are ZIP codes in and around master-planned communities like Summerlin and Anthem.”

ZIP code 89052, which includes Anthem, posted the second-highest appreciation rate at 20.8 percent, with a median price of $232,000. That’s up $40,000 from 2011.

Read the entire article in The RJ