Las Vegas land prices steady

All real estate experts in the valley agree that the residential side of the market is having all sorts of problems. Mortgage lenders are tightening underwriting guidelines, listing inventory is near an all-time high, the buyer-seller price gap remains unhealthily wide and so it goes on. Everyone is anxiously waiting for the time when normal market conditions return to rule the day.

But there is a bright spot in there, too, if you look hard enough. It's raw land. An acre of land averaged $794,000 in the first quarter, up 13.2% from last year. A few home builders have decided to sell portions of their lot inventories, but that hasn't affected the price at all. The sustained development in the industrial, office and retail sectors is readily balancing out any softness the residential side is experiencing.

The primary reason to the steady land prices is the supply of it. Or, more accurately, lack of. Land owners know that and are understandably unwilling to consider any discounting. There is some land available, experts agree, but is it reasonably priced? No, they say.