Today's seven-figure homes are just as likely to be in a tract-home neighborhood as behind country club gates.

"A million dollars has changed," said Linda Rheinberger, broker/owner of One Source Realty and Management and president of the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors. "What was a million-dollar home 10, 20 years ago is not what it is today."

The number of single-family houses in the Las Vegas Valley that sold for $1 million or more increased 237 percent in three years—in 2003 there were 172 single-family houses that sold for $1 million or more. By 2005 that number increased to 581, the association reported.

Not surprisingly, the number of condos that sold for $1 million or more also increased during the same period. In 2003, 17 condos priced at $1 million or more sold, as compared with 2005, when 50 were sold, the association reported. The number of million-dollar condos sold is expected to increase as high-rise towers now under construction near completion.

Even though the number of million-dollar single-family houses sold has increased over the last three years, the median price has remained constant—at about $1.3 million.

The reason for the dramatic increase is a combination of market forces, Rheinberger said.

The Las Vegas Valley's staggering housing appreciation that broke records and led the nation caused mid- to upper-priced homes to break the million-dollar mark.

"A half-million-dollar house is now a million- dollar house," Rheinberger said.

Rheinberger said one of her clients—a chief executive of a major public company—asked her to "find something for about $1 million that will knock everybody's socks off."

Rheinberger said she showed her client a million-dollar tract home and then took him to Queensridge, a high-end, custom-home neighborhood, and showed him a $3 million to $4 million home.

"What he wanted, his expectations, were different than reality," she said. "At that point they decided to stay in Chicago; they were appalled at what they needed to come up with."

To drive home the point, Rheinberger said she recently sold her own home—a 3,100-square-foot house on .268 acres for just under $1 million.

"And I had no problem getting that," she said.

A meager $1 million will most likely only get someone a production home, not the estate they may have been dreaming of, said Devin Reiss, GLVAR president-elect and co-broker and owner of Realty 500 Reiss Corp.

"So many of the new tract homes start out in the $600,000s, $800,000s, especially after you go in and do a few upgrades, it's very easy to get to that (million dollar) point," he said.

KB Home is expected to unveil its luxury homes this year that start at $1 million. Other builders, such as D.R. Horton, also are starting to wade into luxury production homes.

That is one reason why Steve Fait and his brother Dick are betting that their luxury spec homes in Henderson will do well.

Del sud Villagio, near Eastern Avenue and Wigwam Parkway, includes five homes developed by Fait Enterprises Inc., a local custom homebuilder. Prices in the gated neighborhood start at $1.2 million, with the houses ranging in size from 4,034 square feet to 4,656 square feet.

A mother and her daughters walk up a driveway at the Del sud Villagio development in Henderson last weekend. Photo by Steve Marcus

Steve Fait said that the idea came from the high prices—sans upgrades—of many production homes.

"We have all the amenities of a $3 million home, but you can move right in, there is no waiting," he said. "The only thing you have to worry about is if you want your sound system in your backyard."

The Faits also built a neighboring community, Mattson Estates, with prices for houses starting at about $850,000.

Steve Fait said he was able to keep the price at around $1 million because the costs were lower because the five Del sud Villagio houses were built at once and because of the copmany's relatively low land costs. The homebuilder bought the land prior to the 2004 housing appreciation boom.

"You can't build my home for what I did and as cheap as I did, the costs have already gone way up," he said. "People are getting a bargain because we are at the old (land) prices."

Reiss said land prices have been a challenge to custom home builders and their buyers.

"A few years ago you could pick up a nice lot for $50,000 or $60,000," he said. "Now those same lots are $250,000 to $500,000, for the exact same lots—that in itself is pushing those home prices way over."