Forbes noticed that the Las Vegas real estate market has turned:

Something funny’s happening in Las Vegas. Home sale prices from last year are down 28%, but home sales are up 15%.

The reason? Motivated sellers–those in distress or foreclosure–or banks with too many homes on the books are slashing asking prices in order to unload their properties. Motivated sellers in Las Vegas accounted for 64% of sales in October, the highest rate in the country according to Radar Logic, a New York-based derivatives firm that provided the data for this story.

That means buyers are getting deals and hastening Las Vegas’ recovery. In fact, buyers are eating up inventory fast enough that the discounts offered by motivated sellers are tightening as supply contracts. The difference between what motivated sellers have to offer and what non-motivated sellers can command has held steady for three months at a 17% discount, versus the 33% national average. So while it’s still a buyers’ market, prices have dropped to a level that’s stimulated demand.

“There’s a pretty active housing market, it’s simply at a lower-priced inventory,” says Michael Feder, chief executive of Radar Logic. “And there are now bidding wars taking place over homes in foreclosure.”

Prices in general have sunk to 2004 levels.  In some neighborhoods, homes are selling for about what they cost in 2002.  This is a level where it makes sense to buy, particularly if you can take advantage of the tax credit for first time buyers. Remember, you have to buy before the end of June to get it!  You’ll also have to act fast if you want to take advantage of the record low mortgage rates available;  we’re talking under 5%. 

The rest of Forbes’s list of real estate bargain zones is right here, but remember, our median home price is only $211,600 — less than just about anyplace in California. According to my mortgage calculator, you could be buying a median priced home for less than $1200 per month. 

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