Las Vegas home prices likely to keep rising into next year

Las Vegas home values continue soaring faster than the country at large and should outpace the nation for the next year.

The valley’s median home value last month was $156,600, up 2.8 percent from July and up 30.6 percent from August 2012, according to a new report from housing data firm Zillow.

Las Vegas’ month-to-month increase was second fastest among the 30 metro areas covered in Zillow’s report, with Riverside, Calif., leading at 3 percent. Its year-to-year jump also was second fastest, to Sacramento, with 34.1 percent.

Nationally, home values rose 0.4 percent from July and 6.6 percent from last August, to $162,100.

Home values are expected to rise 11.3 percent locally and 5.2 percent nationally by August 2014, Zillow reported.

Among the valley’s submarkets, North Las Vegas had the biggest increase during the past year, with home values climbing 36.9 percent to $137,300.

Las Vegas, ground zero for the housing bust, has rebounded in large part because wealthy out-of-state investors have bought cheap homes in bulk to turn into rentals. A number of those investment firms, however, have been tapering back their purchases because of the rising prices they helped create.