Million-dollar homes said now commonplace in Las Vegas
"A Million Dollars Down" was the title of a best seller authored by legendary Beverly Hills Realtor Elaine Young that chronicled the trials, tribulations and rewards of being realtor to the stars. A couple of decades ago the title was sensational in that it typified the high-end nature of buying and selling homes in the 90210 ZIP code.
Skip now to Las Vegas, land of high rollers, luxury casino resorts and restaurants, and we now have the onset of a new phenomenon: The million-dollar home is now becoming commonplace. Luxury Homes of Las Vegas, one of the more high-end real estate brokers locally, supplied the March 21 Review-Journal with statistics to that effect.
In 2005, it seems, 642 homes with a price tag of more than $1 million were sold, versus 21 in 2001. Sales of homes priced at more than $2 million totaled 112 last year, compared with six in 2001. And sales of residential properties costing more than $3 million rose to 41 as against one in 2001.
"What I've seen is an elevation in the quality of product," Ken Lowman, Luxury Homes of Las Vegas owner and broker, told the R-J. "Ten years ago a custom home builder could get away with ceramic tile. Now they've got to have granite or marble."
Four-bedroom, 3,200 square-foot tract homes in master-planned communities such as Summerlin, Anthem, Seven Hills and Green Valley currently sell for $1 million, it was reported.
The recent sale of strip club owner Michael Galardi's 22,000 square-foot Queensridge mansion for $14 million raised the bar for luxury homes in Las Vegas, the R-J noted. The previous high had been $8.7 million for a high-rise condo at Turnberry Place.
Has Las Vegas come of age in luxury housing? Not quite, compared with other cities. But with more and more luxury condos being built at ever-higher construction costs, along with segments of custom homes, Las Vegas is now a defined player when it comes to high-end housing.
Since that land auction on May 15, 1905 conducted from the side of a railroad passenger car, when local residents lived in tents and burlap-covered shacks, Las Vegas has come a long way.
