In Business Las Vegas reports on the housing bubble. "With the number of single-family houses listed for sale reaching an all-time high, the way real estate agents conduct their business will have to change, those in the industry said. In April 2006, the number of single-family houses listed for sale in the MLS reached 18,467. That compares to early 2004 when there were 4,000 or fewer houses on the market at any given time."

"Of the 18,467 listings in April, about 17,000 were active listings, meaning the balance were contingent or pending sales, said Linda Rheinberger, president of the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors. 'We do have to sell differently; not so much at a discounted price, but giving similar incentives as homebuilders are giving, or contributing to closing costs,' she said."

"Real estate agents also need to be cognizant of the new-home inventory, which real estate expert Larry Murphy puts at about 4,000 houses and condos and another estimated 6,000 converted condos. 'Whenever a market changes you have to educate sellers to the realities of the marketplace,' he said. 'Their mindset is still last year.'"

"The reason for the large amount of resale inventory is in part because of investors unloading properties they bought in 2004 and 2005, said Dennis Smith, president of Home Builders Research Inc. 'We're still in that overhang, or hangover, period of the investors,' he said."

"The area's transient population along with people hoping to cash in equity to move up or move out also are factors, Smith said. Another reason for the increase in inventory is an increase in foreclosures and defaults, a category that was almost nonexistent two years ago, (broker) Mike West said."

"The change in the market's inventory levels and the volume of sales may be a shock to some agents who only have experienced the Las Vegas housing market at its peak, Smith said. 'There's going to be years where income levels are extremely high and then there's going to be extremely low years,' he said."