New CEO at Las Vegas real estate trade group

A big trade group for Las Vegas real estate agents has a new top boss.

The Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors said today that it hired Rhode Island real estate veteran Michele Caprio as its CEO.

She succeeds Nelson Janes, who retired Jan. 9 after three years at the helm.

Caprio starts Feb. 1.

Michele Caprio

Michele Caprio

Wendy DiVecchio, director of operations, will run the group until then.

Caprio sold homes in Rhode Island for 17 years, becoming president of the Greater Providence Board of Realtors in 2003 and taking the same post at the Rhode Island Association of Realtors in 2006.

She was later the CEO of three real estate groups there: the Greater Providence Board, the Rhode Island Commercial and Appraisal Board of Realtors, and the Northern Rhode Island Board of Realtors.

The GLVAR was founded in 1947 and, like the rest of its industry, grew rapidly during the boom years last decade and then plummeted after the bust. When the housing bubble burst, many agents switched careers or left Las Vegas altogether, thinning GLVAR’s membership.

It had 9,400 members in 2003, a peak of almost 17,500 in 2007, and today, roughly 11,500.

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