Mansion Deals in Las Vegas

Luxury apartment in Las Vegas's suburban neighborhoods are selling quickly but cost is still at 2008 levels. Ken Wolt spent $a million on his home, while the Alfonsos home cost $2 million. In Vegas currently, the high-rollers would be the ones saving by far the most cash.

Chris Shelton, a true-estate investor representing an investment company, recently paid $2.8 million at auction for the 5-acre gated estate with seven bedrooms, a lagoon-style pool and also a car museum in Tomiyasu Estates, about ten mins from your Strip. The estate last sold for $4 million in 2010. "The timing was right," says Mr. Shelton, who also snapped up another investment, a 17,000-square-foot equestrian estate on 11 acres in the Paradise Enterprise neighborhood for $1.25 million. Owner paid $3.75 million with the property last year.

Californians are classified as the biggest out-of-state buyers. This home's buyers sold their residence in Palm Springs, where they are saying a place such as this could have cost triple just as much. Lisa Corson to the Wall Street Journal

At the high end in the Vegas housing industry, homes are going fast. Sales of homes priced over $1 million almost doubled to 342 in 2013, in contrast to last year, according to the Greater Nevada Association of Realtors. But while overall home prices in Vegas have risen during the last year, prices within the luxury slice from the market have struggled. The median price for homes over $one million was virtually unchanged this past year from the same level it's got hovered at in the past 5yrs—around $1.4 million. The end result: Buyers from pricier metro areas, like Chicago, 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, bought a four-bedroom range in Summerlin, a gated golf-course community northwest on the city. At 15,600 sq . ft ., the house is adequate enough for just a music studio along with a gym which has pits filled up with giant foam cubes. The value: $2.8 million, $200,000 off the listing price. "The worthiness was just insane," says Mr. Aoki, who's moving coming from a 3,000-square-foot home in Los Angeles.

The relative discounts for the top quality are a contrast towards the overall Vegas housing market, that's been bouncing back from steep decline. This past year, Vegas home prices were up 35.5% in the previous year—more(a) most of the other 20 cities tracked through the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller price level. High 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—compared with just 37% in 2012.
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In the darkest days of the Sin city housing bust, most luxury homeowners sat for their homes, expecting the marketplace to improve. Now, real-estate agents say, these are time for industry as a group, sensing a strategic window. And many need to sell quickly, being previously spooked by the last downturn—so this means they're ready to negotiate on price.

"The more expensive-end homes have lagged in appreciation and people have the timing may be to sell," says Dale Thornburgh of Synergy Sotheby's International Realty, who organized the auction where Mr. Shelton found his homes. During this same auction, a 3,905-square-foot, three-bedroom penthouse inside Palms Place Resort alongside the Strip sold for $1.8 million to Texas banker Robert Marling. It turned out listed for $2.2 million. The seller was a venture capitalist named Lacy Harber, a Texas businessman.

Most of the biggest deals come in a newcomer, upscale gated communities within 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 during these developments—which became emblems of the market's boom and subsequent bust—at the moment are 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 your market tanked, and other lots in the same neighborhood were selling for half what you paid, they decided to live in your house given that they had too much money inside.

Even though they were given a lot of lowball offers, they did not sell. When the market begun to improve a year ago, they decided to 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 the tutor said it meant a loss on their behalf—they won't say just how much—the happy couple said they thought we would target Mr. Mossholder because they liked him and so they were concerned that homes built more cheaply into their neighborhood through the downturn might erode the additional value of these home further if they waited.

“ 'The worthiness was just insane,' says Steve Aoki, who got a new four-bedroom range in a gated golf-course community northwest on the city. ”

Mr. Mossholder, who had been renting, had been hunting for a new house for 36 months. "I desired to stay in this development, but people weren't selling" he says.

Many of the new luxury buyers around hail from the same place: California. "Half my buyers a year ago came from California," says Zar Zanganeh, with LUXE Estates Collection. Not too long ago 13.8% of most homes sold for $one million or maybe more from the Las Vegas area went along to buyers from California. The big apple, in second area for out-of-state buyers, landed 1.4% coming from all $1-million-plus sales, in accordance with San Diego-based DataQuick.

These buyers are consumed by Vegas's discount prices—and Nevada's low taxes. Many Californians have found its way to the wake of Proposition 30. Passed right at the end of 2012, the measure hiked personal income and purchasers taxes.

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

The couple, who also later sold their home in Portland, Ore., "couldn't believe the amount of house" these were getting, adds Ms. Alfonso, who estimates much the same range in a similar neighborhood in Palm Springs would have cost 3 times as often.

For Ken Wolt, the move to Las Vegas was more to do with lifestyle than tax relief. The former head of any radiobroadcast group who acts in commercials and theater and does voice-overs, he was tired with the worries of L . a . (traffic, bad roads) and wanted a property adequate for just a recording studio. He purchased a partially finished, 6,500-square-foot house along with a guesthouse this year for $a million in a gated community and hang up about $200,000 into renovations. To begin with he was worried he'd miss the culture in Los Angeles, but he states he's got found an abundance of entertainment in Las Vegas.

During the last 5 years, Nevada has started to more closely resemble Southern California. These days there are more suburban gated communities with upscale shops. The once-grungy downtown has revitalized. "Decade ago people regarded Vegas since the Strip. Now many men and women don't visit the Strip anymore," says Florence Shapiro, of real-estate firm Shapiro & Sher Group.

Even celebrities are trading up: Last May, musician Carlos Santana obtained a house for $six million in Summerlin. Last month, he sold his 7,200-square-foot contemporary outside for $2.9 million. He got it in 2011 for $3.5 million. His new pad is 7,800 sq . ft . and, in line with the listing, has a $400,000 state-of-the-art cinema, a game room, a gym, a putting surface and an infinity pool.