January housing market numbers unkind.

New home sales dropped to 2,052 last month in Vegas, compared to 2,815 sales in January 2006. On the bright side is the fact that the median price of these new houses climbed to $334,945, a 10.3% increase. On the resale side the news are about the same in the sales numbers, but the median price in this sector edged lower by 1.8%, to $280,000. The numbers are similar nationally. Realtor.org reports that buyers are backing off because the housing stock is out of their price range.