"I must admit, I've had a lot more rejections in the past few months, and I would attribute that absolutely to the cost of living," said Haszlauer, a human resources strategic partner with Nevada Power Co. and its parent company, Sierra Pacific Resources.

Last week the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight said Nevada's soaring housing costs paced the nation with a 31.2 percent appreciation rate from the first quarter of 2004 to the first quarter of 2005.

Additionally, the Las Vegas metropolitan area was the second hottest city for appreciation in the 12-month period with housing prices up 33.3 percent, the OFHEO report said. The Reno metropolitan area was right behind Las Vegas, third nationally, with a 12-month appreciation rate of 31.8 percent.

Over a five-year period, Las Vegas housing prices are up 89.1 percent, the federal report said. Reno's five-year rate was 85.2 percent.

This week the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors said the median price of all homes sold in the Las Vegas area reached $300,000 in May. It is the first time the median price has ever reached the $300,000 mark, the association said.

The price was up 3 percent over the $297,000 mark reported in April.

Statistics from Home Builders Research Inc. showed the median new home price for the Las Vegas Valley was $281,355 in April, up from $233,360 in the same 2004 month. In April 2000, the local median new home price was $148,886, Home Builders Research said.

Those statistics lend credence to comments from Jeremy Aguero, a principal with Applied Analysis. He said that the cost of living in Las Vegas recently came in higher than the composite cost of living for Southern Nevada's top 10 feeder states for new residents, excluding California.

While existing residents have hailed the newfound equity the run-up in home prices has created, a competitive edge might be slipping away for Las Vegas.

John Restrepo, principal with the Las Vegas research firm Restrepo Consulting Group LLC, said he is concerned with the rising cost of housing given the lack of movement in area salaries.

"We've got an interesting time ahead for us," he said. "I'm not sure what's the answer."

Mike Tymczyn is director of marketing for Valley Health System, which operates Desert Springs, Valley, Summerlin and Spring Valley hospitals. He said that over the past 12 months the hospital has seen an increase in the number of potential employee recruits "declining offers or avoiding the market all together once they see the cost of living."

"It is almost 100 percent specific to housing prices," Tymczyn said.

About 25 percent of the valley's recruits -- as many as 60 potential employees a month -- "raise serious objections to housing prices and the cost of living," he added.

Still, Tymczyn and Haszlauer agreed that recruiting in Las Vegas is far from impossible. Tymczyn said efforts to attract employees, particularly nurses, from areas such as California, Boston, New York and Philadelphia is still reaping strong rewards. He also said the hospital operator continues to market heavily in areas where health care is stagnant or struggling.

"We haven't based our recruitment yet on economics," he said.

Haszlauer also added that while she receives more rejections, overall she has gotten more applications, particularly from areas such as California, Florida and Texas.

She said the Las Vegas electric company also has attracted the attention of some executives retiring from a company and looking to continue their careers in a city like Las Vegas where they might ultimately retire.

Nevada Power, Haszlauer said, also takes more time in introducing prospective employees to the local community.

"Companies need to get more creative," she said, adding that the amount of growth, while it has driven up home prices, still serves to lure the entrepreneurs.

"People see opportunity with growth," Haszlauer said. "Even with the cost of living there's a lot of opportunity out there. That's particularly important for the spouses."

Robert Shriver, executive director of the Nevada Commission on Economic Development, said those opportunities also keep attracting new companies.

"The level of activity is so strong, it would be hard to say that's been an impact," he said of the cost of living.

Somer Hollingsworth, chief executive of the Nevada Development Authority, has also expressed concern over soaring prices. He agreed, however, that companies continue to move into Las Vegas.

"We still have company after company coming here," he said.

Hollingsworth said that while fewer employees may be relocated into the valley, executives are likely to have salaries high enough to afford the local prices, and good-paying companies can recruit effectively from the existing labor pool.

"There's just so many things that play into this," he said.

While Las Vegas was second on the OFHEO list of housing appreciation front- runners, Phoenix, a frequent competitor for new businesses, came in at No. 43 with a 20 percent appreciation rate.

Brad Smidt, vice president for business development with the Greater Phoenix Economic Council, was not disappointed finishing behind Las Vegas in this race.

"That's good to hear," he said, adding that he did not think the disparity would mean many lost opportunities for Las Vegas.

"Between Nevada and Arizona, there's a lot of competition, but there are different opportunities in each market," Smidt said. "We try to seel ourselves not just on cost but on quality."

Kevin Rademacher covers utilities and finance for In Business Las Vegas and its sister publication, the Las Vegas Sun. He can be reached at (702) 259-4069 or by e-mail at kevinr@lasvegassun.com.