"A big factor is the recent run up in the price of gas. We live in a state where there's limited development in the transportation infrastructure and it's not going to get much better," Gabriel said.

"People don't want four hour round-trip commutes. Building single-family suburbs all the way to Vegas is not a tenable idea. Coupled with demographic trends, it adds up to a 'densification' of development," he added.

"The idea that the downtown renaissance plays across income strata and age strata is the idea that there is opportunity for more affordable housing downtown and the opportunity for upscale attached housing. It's the mixing across cultures, ages and income groups that makes for some of the fun in downtown areas," Gabriel said.

"It's slowing for a lot of reasons -- higher gas prices, higher interest rates, house prices stopped rising and compressed home equity extraction," Gabriel said.

"Most people are betting that prices won't keep going up and they might even be falling, so there is no urgency to buy. It might be better to rent for a year and see where prices are then," Gabriel said.