Las Vegas Real Estate

Having lived in Las Vegas for most of my life and working in the real estate industry for the past 5 years, I have seen my share of change throughout the valley. Growing up I would always build forts and ride ATVs out in the desert. Some people now call that area Summerlin. I remember when going to Mt. Charleston seemed like a road trip. Now it's practically in our back yard.
Las Vegas has grown a little since those days and so has the price of housing. Those prices have come down considerable the past two years, but it was something that needed to happen. The market has been correcting itself. This scares a lot of people though. All this talk about the real estate bubble has gone to people's heads. What's changed about the Las Vegas economy to have such a great effect on real estate?
The answer is deceptive. We all know that what goes up must come down and the same is true with real estate in Vegas. The difference between a normal down market and the down market we are experiencing is that the need for real estate still exists in this city. Look at history and you will find that market appreciation or depreciation is more often then not related to unemployment rates. Sure there can be other causes, but this is a common thread. A perfect example of this would be the California market years ago. Unemployment jumped to nearly 30% and home values dipped like nothing ever seen before. The is a natural correlation. If people are unemployed, they can not buy houses.
Well the unemployment rate here has remained stable, despite the lay offs in residential construction. The commercial side of things is still booming. New casinos are constantly being added and mixed use projects are very popular right now. Thousands of jobs will be created in 2008 and thousands of people will move here to work them. Does this mean that we will see double digit appreciation again in the near future? I wouldn't count on it. It does, however, mean that the real estate world will live to see another day!