Las Vegas home prices hit new post-recession low

A home sits foreclosed and unoccupied in the 4500 block of East Sun Valley Drive on Thursday, Dec. 15, 2011.

Las Vegas-area home prices fell from January to February, according to the closely-followed Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices.

S&P on Tuesday said Las Vegas was among nine big U.S. markets to see prices hit new post-recession lows in February, as the larger U.S. market continued to struggle.

Las Vegas prices fell 0.4 percent on a monthly basis and were down 8.5 percent from February 2011, S&P said.

The declines compare to 0.8 percent on a monthly basis for the 20 big U.S. markets tracked by S&P/Case-Shiller; and a 3.5 percent year-over-year decline for the 20 markets.

With Las Vegas ranking No. 8 in the nation for foreclosures and unemployment elevated at 12.1 percent, the local residential real estate market has remained stuborningly weak through the recession.

Local data for March from analytical firm SalesTraq showed that — amid indications of tightening supply — Las Vegas-area median existing home prices rose from $100,800 in February to $103,000 in March.

Still, that’s down 4.3 percent below March 2011.

SalesTraq reported that in the Las Vegas new home market, closings increased from 288 in February to 352 in March. The median new home price of $201,668 was up from $195,250 in February and was up 1.6 percent from March 2011.

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