After a busy 2014, whats in store for Las Vegas real estate?

Las Vegas real estate market, after getting battered by the recession, had one of its busiest years in a while in 2014.

Investors built retail, apartment and office projects in the suburbs, the housing market stayed volatile and new projects were proposed and took shape along the Strip.

What lies ahead? Heres a rundown of what happened in 2014, and what insiders expect this year.

Housing

After hitting bottom, home prices rose at one of the fastest rates nationally in recent years as investors paid cash, sight unseen, for low-priced houses to turn into rentals.

But now, with fewer bargains out there, investors are pulling back. They triggered a valleywide slowdown last year as more listings went ignored, sales volume dropped and prices rose at a much slower pace.

Real estate pros expect things to keep cooling in 2015. But with the market relying more on regular, mom-and-pop buyers, that could turn a slowdown into a slump, as many locals cant get a mortgage because of tighter lending requirements and past bankruptcies, foreclosures or short sales.

Meanwhile, homebuilders had a topsy-turvy 2014.

Sales totals dropped hard as would-be buyers, saddled with financial woes and sticker shock, backed off. Through November, sales volume was down 20 percent year-over-year in Southern Nevada, prices were flat, and builders pulled fewer construction permits.

All told, theres little reason to feel warm and fuzzy about 2015, Home Builders Research President Dennis Smith recently said.

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After a busy 2014, whats in store for Las Vegas real estate?