Instead of cooling down with the winter weather, local Las Vegas home prices are holding steady.
According to the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors, home prices last month averaged $240,000. Not bad for your typical family home for mere mortals.
But what about our exclusive neighborhoods spread throughout Southern Nevada? Have upscale homes recovered from the recession, too? And are new Strip condos and mega-mansions once again on the way?
Realtor Sabrina Chapman writes about real estate for Luxury Las Vegas magazine. She told KNPR's State of Nevada that luxury real estate in Southern Nevada falls into three categories: high-rise condominiums, resales and custom homes.
According to Chapman, the market is flush with homes in the high-end category. She said there are currently 202 homes listed at $1.5 million and above and that does not include the 300 custom homes slated to be built at Ascaya in Henderson.
"More and more Las Vegas is getting on the map," she said, "You have people coming in from L.A. You have them coming in from New York. You have them coming in from Miami. We are the entertainment capital of the world and people love Vegas."
Chapman said some wealthy people like to collect cars or jewelry others like to collect homes, and they're collecting them in Las Vegas.
She said many buyers in the luxury market are forgoing the ornate, old-world style mansions of years past and are more focused on intelligently designed homes.
"They are looking for things that appeal to the intellect," Chapman said. "Things that are smart design. Things that sort of have a very beautiful serene essence about them."
Chapman believes the Ascaya development will appeal to that new focus because of its emphasis on incorporating the environment.
"What they're doing is providing a vision which they believe maybe the greatest collection of luxury, desert, contemporary homes of our time," she said.
The homes are expected to be between $1.5 and $2 million.
Sabrina Chapman, realtor with Urban Nest Realty and real estate writer for Luxury Las Vegas magazine