How much did a Las Vegas house cost in 1997?

The median price for a single-family home in Las Vegas in 1997 would have set you back about $124,800, according to historical data from Las Vegas Realtors.

Adjusted for inflation that would amount to $246,729 in July 2024, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI Inflation Calculator.

The median price of an existing single-family home sold in Southern Nevada through the Multiple Listing Service during July of this year was $480,000. This is a 6.7 percent increase from $450,000 in July 2023. Local home prices are now inching close to the all-time record of $482,000 set in May 2022.

In July 2000, the median home price was $140,000 and in April 2004, the median price for a single-family home was $252,500, according to data from Las Vegas Realtors.

This means existing homes prices in the valley have more than tripled since 2000. More than a decade of exponential home price gains were essentially wiped out by the Great Recession of 2008-09 as figures fell back to pre-2001 levels in 2012.

Las Vegas ranked as the sixth most active development market over the past half century, according to a new report from Storage Cafe, explaining that “the city’s strong push to accommodate the influx of new residents and businesses has resulted in a massive boom.”

According to Storage Cafe, the Las Vegas Valley has built approximately 142,000 single-family homes with one decade standing out.

“The 1990s were a standout decade,” the report said, “with an impressive peak of 5,784 permits issued annually. Although the construction activity slowed significantly following the Great Recession, with only 1,434 permits issued annually in the 2010s, the 2020s saw a resurgence to 2,558 permits per year.”

In terms of the multifamily market, during the 1980s and ’90s, the valley was averaging around 2,500 apartment building permits annually.

“However, the fallout from the 2008 financial crisis made the 2010s the lowest point,” continued the report. “As annual permits dropped sharply to only 262. The sector is bouncing back in the 2020s, surging to 1,128 permits annually — an impressive 331 percent growth.”

Research from Applied Analysis estimates the valley could run out of land to build homes in as little as eight years.

Las Vegas finds itself in the middle of a housing crisis and key stakeholders are pointing the finger directly at the Bureau of Land Management, which controls the vast majority of land within the valley, and have been slow to release it to the public sector since the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act of 1998.

Contact Patrick Blennerhassett at pblennerhassett@reviewjournal.com.