by Calculated Risk on 1/14/2012 12:19:00 AM

From the Las Vegas Review-Journal: Las Vegas home sales set record

A total of 48,186 single-family homes and condos were sold in Las Vegas last year, topping the previous record of 46,879 set in 2009, the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors reported ... Roughly half of all sales were cash-only transactions, while 46.8 percent were real estate-owned, or bank-owned properties returning to the market after foreclosure. Another 26.6 percent were short sales, or lender-approved sales for less than the principal mortgage balance.

... new-home sales plummeted from nearly 39,000 in 2006 to fewer than 4,000 in 2011, the lowest level since Home Builders Research began tracking the market in 1988.

Click on graph for larger image.

This graph shows the sales per year. The are more sales now than during the peak of the bubble! However new home sales are at record lows because of all the vacant housing units and distressed sales.

Also - as the article mentions - prices are still falling. According to Case-Shiller, prices in Las Vegas have fallen about 14% since June 2009, so those people who bought in 2009 have lost money (although many paid cash, so they don't have "negative equity").