Las Vegas Luxury Market Shows Signs of Life

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Although the overall Las Vegas market is still struggling, high-end homes continue to sell, a luxury specialist says.

The number of sales of homes priced at $1 million or above was down 14 percent from a year ago, but there was actually a 7 percent increase in sales of properties priced above $3 million, according to Luxury Homes of Las Vegas.

"September was a fairly solid month relative to current market conditions," said owner Kenneth Lowman, who claims a 46 percent market share of sales of Las Vegas homes priced above $3 million. "The market remains challenging, but sales are happening."

Lowman's firm closed 19 sales in September, compared to 17 in the same month of 2009. There have been 101 sales of homes priced at more than $1 million in the first three quarters of 2010, with the most expensive a $7 million property in a development called The Ridges.

Reduced prices are helping drive luxury sales, Lowman said in a press release.

In September, bank owned sales represented about 10 percent of the luxury sales, a sharp contrast to the overall market. Bank-owned homes accounted for 42 percent of all existing local home sales in September, according to the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors.

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