Las Vegas home sales up from previous year

Las Vegas home sales were up 20 percent in the month of October compared to numbers from 2010, according to statistics released by the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors.

Realtors sold 3,118 homes in Las Vegas in October, which was 3.8 percent less than the number of homes sold in September, but Paul Bell, president of the GLVAR, said that has always been the trend.

"For at least the last seven years, we've sold fewer homes in October than we did during September," Bell said. "But I think the significant thing here is that October sales are up substantially from last year."

The number of homes sold during the upcoming winter months is predicted to decrease, which is expected during the slowest season of the year, Bell added.

The median price for a home in Las Vegas also dropped significantly when compared to the previous month and October 2010. The October median price for a home was $121,000, down 1.9 percent from September and 9 percent from October of last year.

Bell stated that a lot of retirees were buying property in Las Vegas, which was reflected in the recently released numbers.

It is not surprising that retirees are packing up moving boxes to relocate to Las Vegas, which was voted one of the best places to retire by U.S. News & World Report.