Peter Becker of Las Vegas prepares to bid on a parcel Wednesday during an auction at the Bureau of Land Management field office. Becker had a winning bid of $1.2 million on a 2.5-acre parcel, one of four parcels totaling 25 acres that were snagged at the auction. Photos by Ronda Churchill. Mike Davis of Las Vegas bids Wednesday on a parcel of property valued at $1.18 million. Results of the bidding at the Bureau of Land Management field office are posted on a board Wednesday following the auction.

If the Bureau of Land Management public land auction is any indication, Las Vegas has turned into a buyer's market as demand for land has slackened and sales have slowed.

In one of the smallest auctions since the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act was passed in 1998, only four parcels totaling 25 acres were sold at Wednesday's BLM auction for nearly $12.5 million, or roughly $500,000 an acre.

The largest parcel, 15 acres near Maryland Parkway and Wigwam Avenue, went for the minimum fair market value bid of $7.83 million to the sole bidder, Dean Lazarkis of Las Vegas.

Lazarkis opened the auction with a $1.15 million purchase of 2.5 acres at Montessori Street and Camero Avenue in the southwest Las Vegas Valley and was outbid by Peter Becker of Las Vegas on an adjacent 2.5-acre piece that went for $1.2 million.

"I was surprised by the turnout," Lazarkis said. "I was surprised by the interest, actually."

The most fiercely contested bidding was for a 5-acre parcel near Gomer Avenue and Torrey Pines Drive. Four bidders drove the fair market value from $1.18 million to $2.3 million. Mike and Cindy Davis of Las Vegas won the bid.

"We own land across the street," Mike Davis said. "We feel real positive about what we got it for."

Seven parcels drew no bids, including 5 acres on Pyle Avenue west of Lindell Road that had a minimum bid of $4.23 million, the highest appraised price per acre at the auction.

Fewer than 100 people attended the auction, which was held at the BLM's Las Vegas field office at 4701 N. Torrey Pines Drive. Past auctions have packed up to 2,000 people into venues such as Sam's Town Live and 500 into Cashman Center Theater and the Clark County Government Center.

The auctioneer duties were handled by BLM field manager Juan Palma, who said he would be "keeping my day job." Palma had trouble keeping track of bidders and amounts and misplaced some parcel locations.

Land prices are softening in several submarkets of the valley, but sellers aren't reducing their prices, said Travis Nelson, assistant vice president at Nevada Title Co.

"A lot of buyers out there were hoping for a fallout in land prices and it's not happening," he said. "Sellers aren't coming down on prices like people were hoping. They're bullish on the Las Vegas market and it's not the best time to be a seller right now."

BLM realty specialist Anna Wharton said all parcels were nominated through Clark County. More than 30 bidders from 11 states, including three on the East Coast, registered for the auction and one person in attendance was from Seattle. No sealed bids were submitted.

"We didn't have long lines in registration," she said. "We cut back knowing there's sluggish sales in the valley. If anyone here is interested in nominating a parcel, please do so."

After no bids on four straight parcels that could have been assembled into 10 acres at Tenaya Way and Wigwam Avenue, Palma said, "I know some of you guys expressed high interest in those parcels."

Nelson of Nevada Title said it takes 18 months to two years to nominate a parcel and get it on the BLM auction block. The market changes in that time, he said.

"A lot of it is timing. It may not be as desirable as it was two years ago," Nelson said. "We're still a great market compared with the rest of the country. Land owners know the values are going to be sustained or go up."

At the previous BLM auction in August, 22.5 acres were sold for $9 million, or $400,000 an acre. To date, 21 oral and Internet auctions have been held and 12,949 acres have been sold in 489 parcels generating $2.75 billion.

Revenues from the sale are used for capital improvements to parks, trails and natural areas in Nevada; conservation initiatives; and the purchase of environmentally sensitive lands and Lake Tahoe restoration projects. In addition, 10 percent goes to the Southern Nevada Water Authority and 5 percent goes to the Nevada State General Education Fund.