Big House Deals in Vegas

Luxury apartment in Las Vegas's suburban neighborhoods are selling quickly but costs are still at 2008 levels. Ken Wolt spent $2million on his home, as the Alfonsos home cost $two million. In Nevada today, the high-rollers may be the ones saving probably the most cash.

Chris Shelton, an authentic-estate investor representing a trade company, recently paid $2.8 million at auction for a 5-acre gated estate with seven bedrooms, a lagoon-style pool as well as a car museum in Tomiyasu Estates, about 10 minutes in the Strip. The estate last sold for $4 million truly. "The timing was right," says Mr. Shelton, who also purchased another investment, a 17,000-square-foot equestrian estate on 11 acres in the Paradise Enterprise neighborhood for $1.25 million. The seller paid $3.75 million to the property recently.

Californians will be the biggest out-of-state buyers. This home's buyers sold their house in Palm Springs, where people say a space this way might have cost thrice all the. Lisa Corson for The Wall Street Journal

In the high-end with the Vegas housing marketplace, homes are going fast. Sales of homes priced over $a million almost doubled to 342 in 2013, compared to last year, in line with the Greater Nevada Association of Realtors. But while overall home prices in Nevada have risen during the last year, prices in the luxury slice with the market have struggled. The median price for homes over $one million was virtually unchanged recently from the same level it has hovered at within the last 5yrs—around $1.4 million. The result: Buyers from pricier metro areas, like La, are discovering some steep discounts on luxury homes.

In November, Steve Aoki, a Grammy-nominated record producer along with the founder of Dim Mak Records, obtained a four-bedroom range in Summerlin, a gated golf-course community northwest of the city. At 15,600 feet square, the home is large enough for just a music studio along with a gym that has pits filled up with giant foam cubes. The value: $2.8 million, $200,000 off of the listing price. "The worthiness only agreed to be insane," says Mr. Aoki, who's going to be moving from a 3,000-square-foot range in L . a ..

The relative discounts with the high end are a contrast towards overall Las Vegas housing marketplace, which includes been bouncing back from steep decline. This past year, Vegas home values were up 35.5% on the previous year—greater than in any of the other 20 cities tracked from the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller price level. Most of the gain occurred because many foreclosures finally started selling. In 2013 some 62% of home sales were "traditional sales"—not foreclosures or short sales—in comparison with just 37% in 2012.
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Over the darkest times of the Vegas housing bust, most luxury homeowners sat on the homes, awaiting industry to enhance. Now, real-auctions say, they may be time for the market en bloc, sensing a window of opportunity. And many want to sell quickly, being spooked from the last downturn—so this means they may be happy to negotiate on price.

"The bigger-end homes have lagged in appreciation the ones feel the timing may be to sell," says Dale Thornburgh of Synergy Sotheby's International Realty, who organized the auction where Mr. Shelton picked up his homes. At this same auction, a 3,905-square-foot, three-bedroom penthouse from the Palms Place Resort beside the Strip sold for $1.8 million to Texas banker Robert Marling. It was listed for $2.2 million. Owner was a trader named Lacy Harber, a Texas businessman.

Many of the biggest deals are in fairly new, upscale gated communities from the city's suburbs. These developments, which feature amenities such as golf courses, country clubs, parks and shops, were largely built during Las Vegas's superheated run-up within the mid-2000s. Some homeowners who bought of these developments—which became emblems on the market's boom and subsequent bust—are actually desperate to sell.

Cecilia and Lawrence Ventimiglia, luxury-home builders, bought their lot for $800,000 in 2006 and built an 8,000-square-foot, four-bedroom, 5½-bath custom house on almost one-half acre inside the Ridges in Summerlin, a gated country-club development. If the market tanked, and similar lots inside the same neighborhood were selling for half what they paid, they decided to relax in the property since they had too much money in it.

Regardless if they got a great deal of lowball offers, they didn't sell. When the market started to improve this past year, they thought we would list it for $3.4 million—and sold it for $3 million to Michael Mossholder, head of Global Marketing Partnerships at Ultimate Fighting Championship, a mixed-martial-arts promotion company. Though i was told that it meant a loss for the kids—they won't say how much—the couple said they decided to sell to Mr. Mossholder simply because they liked him plus they were concerned that homes built more cheaply of their neighborhood over the downturn might erode the worthiness with their home further should they waited.

“ 'The worthiness only agreed to be insane,' says Steve Aoki, who bought a four-bedroom zero in a gated golf-course community northwest in the city. ”

Mr. Mossholder, who were renting, have been searching for a new house for three years. "I needed to stay in this development, but people weren't selling" he says.

Many of the new luxury buyers around hail in the same place: California. "Half my buyers last year originated from California," says Zar Zanganeh, with LUXE Estates Collection. Recently 13.8% of most homes sold for $one million or more inside Sin city area went along to buyers from California. Big apple, in second spot for out-of-state buyers, accounted for 1.4% off $1-million-plus sales, in accordance with Hillcrest-based DataQuick.

These buyers are fascinated by Vegas's affordable prices—and Nevada's low taxes. Many Californians have arrived at the wake of Proposition 30. Passed right at the end of 2012, the measure hiked personal income and purchases taxes.

Last spring, Joann and Vic Alfonso sold the house they'd owned in Palm Springs, Calif., for more than two decades and moved to Nevada, purchasing an 8,500-square-foot, almost-new Mediterranean-style home in a guarded, gated country club community for $2 million. The "state of California is taxed towards limits and its particular economy isn't current," says Ms. Alfonso.

The couple, who also later sold their residence in Portland, Ore., "couldn't believe simply how much house" they were getting, adds Ms. Alfonso, who estimates an identical zero in a comparable neighborhood in Palm Springs might have cost triple all the.

For Ken Wolt, the go on to Vegas was much more about lifestyle than tax relief. The former head of your radiobroadcast group who acts in commercials and theater and does voice-overs, he was sick and tired with the tension of Are generally (traffic, bad roads) and wanted a residence large enough for the recording studio. He bought a partially finished, 6,500-square-foot house and also a guesthouse really for $1 million in a very gated community and put about $200,000 into renovations. To start with he was worried he'd miss the culture in Are generally, but he admits that he has found a good amount of entertainment in Vegas.

During the last 5yrs, Nevada has begun to more bear resemblance to Southern California. Nowadays there are more suburban gated communities with upscale shops. The once-grungy downtown has revitalized. "Decade ago people thought of Vegas as the Strip. Now a lot of people don't go to the Strip anymore," says Florence Shapiro, of real-estate firm Shapiro & Sher Group.

Even celebrities are trading up: Last May, musician Carlos Santana got such a house for $6 million in Summerlin. Last month, he sold his 7,200-square-foot contemporary down the street for $2.9 million. He previously purchased it in 2011 for $3.5 million. His new pad is 7,800 feet square and, based on the listing, features a $400,000 state-of-the-art movie theater, a game room, a gym, a putting green and an infinity pool.