The Las Vegas realtors have the May numbers out. "The Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors recently released housing statistics for May 2006. The total number of local homes sold in May (was) down 17 percent from 2005. For condos and townhomes, 605 units were sold, which is down 19 percent from one year ago."

"The number of available homes listed in the Las Vegas area increased 7.6 percent from April to May to a record total of 19,132. The number of available condos and townhomes reached 4,253, an 11.9 percent increase from April to May and a 67.4 percent increase from last year at this time."

"Association leaders expect the local housing inventory to peak as summer approaches."

And the Times Online looks at one Nevada flipper. "In a city built on defying the odds, Mark Barclay believes he has discovered a sure bet. The Dorset-based pilot is blowing half a million dollars on a flat in a Las Vegas tower block."

"The two-bedroom flat is not actually built yet: like much else in Vegas, it exists only on paper. Barclay isn’t worried: he says he hopes never to set eyes on it anyway. Truth be told, he is not impressed by modern Vegas. He finds it far too crowded."

"This week Barclay is poised to put down more money on a second property in an obscure desert town that few outside Nevada have ever heard of. 'There is nothing more attractive right now than Nevada,' he said."

"Barclay is a pioneer. For about $500,000 (£271,000), he has bought into SilverCrest, a future condo high-rise managed by Savills International. At present, SilverCrest is a dusty, empty corner of a housing estate about 15 minutes from the casino-dominated Strip. His plan is to let the apartment via Savills, 'who will do the hard work,' to workers at nearby casinos."

"'There is a massive shortage of rental accommodation in Las Vegas,' Barclay says. 'Most casino staff cannot afford to buy there anymore.'"

"Perhaps riskier is his $280,000 (£150,000) bet on Desert Oasis, a condo complex in West Wendover, a tiny town near Nevada’s border with Utah. The hook is the city’s five expanding casinos, patronised by renegade Utah Mormons, which have produced a sharp increase in demand for staff housing. The ground won’t be broken until later this summer. 'If it doesn’t work out in four years’ time, I will sell it on,' says Barclay."

"Linda Rheinberger, president of the local realtor (estate agent) association, says it will reach 3m within a decade. By that time, Vegas will be running out of land. 'The Strip is our beach front, where all the pricey, blue-chip condos are and will be,' she says."

"However promising the long-term prospects, anyone buying now runs the risk that they are coming in at the top of the market. Property prices in Las Vegas, as in the rest of America, are 'resting' after five years of double-digit growth. Rheinberger, who some believe may become Nevada’s governor one day, gives some conservative advice: 'Get a good realtor, read the detail, stick in here for five years at least and hold on.' As with everything else in Vegas, it could be a hell of a ride."