The Las Vegas metropolitan area has seen not only a significant rise in its population but an altering of its demographics as well, according to new findings from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Home prices in the majority of metro areas across the country — places such as Nashville, Los Angeles, Austin and Indianapolis — have eclipsed their pre-recession peak.

Las Vegas is having a tough time living down its sordid past. Not that sordid past. It’s our reputation as Ground Zero in the foreclosure crisis a decade ago that has Southern Nevada in the news now.

In case there was any doubt, it’s back.

The real estate market in the Las Vegas Valley has seen explosive growth the past two years, creeping toward its pre-recession boom from 2005 to 2007, according to Las Vegas housing experts and real estate agents in the valley.

A Fitch Ratings report published by Forbes designating Las Vegas as the most overvalued real estate market in the nation has homeowners who survived the foreclosure crisis jittery and real estate agents angry. But experts say contrary to increasingly frequent warnings from Fitch and others, Las Vegas is not in danger of suffering another housing bubble. We’re just coming up from underwater.

A Fitch Ratings report published by Forbes designating Las Vegas as the most overvalued real estate market in the nation has homeowners who survived the foreclosure crisis jittery and real estate agents angry. But experts say contrary to increasingly frequent warnings from Fitch and others, Las Vegas is not in danger of suffering another housing bubble. We’re just coming up from underwater.

Jacenta Harris brought her two youngest children to Las Vegas to start a new life.

Jacenta Harris brought her two youngest children to Las Vegas to start a new life. Then came the eviction notice.

It’s a journey that most people eventually take. Fifteen years ago, Anne Carte decided to leave the familiar comforts of home and family to move out on her own. For Carte, who was 20 years old at the time, moving to the Biggest Little City from San Jose, Calif., represented an exciting and crucial juncture in her life. “I moved to Reno to grow up and be an adult,” Carte said. The year 2002 had its fair share of memorable moments. That same year, “Star Wars: Episode II” debuted in theaters, Tiger Woods won the 66th Masters Tournament and “American Idol” premiered on television.

Foreclosures by homeowner associations in Nevada’s two major counties led to more than $1 billion in lost property sale values, a report found. The Nevada Association of Realtors report looked at the impact of sales involving properties that were foreclosed after residents failed to pay their HOA fees. The study was done by the University of Nevada, Las Vegas’ Lied Institute for Real Estate Studies.

A report from the Nevada Association of REALTORS (NVAR) found that foreclosures by local homeowner associations have reduced property values in the state’s two most populated counties by more than $1 billion.

More than nine out of 10 local REALTORS expect local home prices to keep going up in the next year. That’s one of the highlights from the latest Quarterly Sentiment Index released this week by UNLV’s Lied Institute for Real Estate Studies in partnership with the Greater Las Vegas Association of REALTORS (GLVAR).