Vegas home prices shoot up 24 percent in 1 year

LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Real estate agents say home prices in the Las Vegas area climbed 24 percent last year as supply stayed tight.

Statistics released Tuesday by the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors show a mere five weeks' worth of inventory left at the end of 2012.

The median price for a single-family home sold in December was $149,000, up 2.1 percent from the previous month and 24.2 percent from a year ago. Realtors say they haven't seen those kinds of price increases since at least 2004.

Association officials say they've also seen a dramatic shift from foreclosure sales to short sales in the past year, and they expect the trend to continue.

Short sales accounted for a record 46 percent of sales in December, while foreclosures accounted for 10 percent.