A class-action lawsuit against Pulte Homes alleging price manipulation has been dismissed without prejudice in federal court and will be refiled as five separate cases, a Las Vegas attorney representing homeowners said Friday.

Tom Mehesan, the attorney for about 100 plaintiffs who sustained financial losses when Pulte lowered home prices last fall, said it's not suitable to have one lawsuit for five subdivisions, since each of the cases is different.

"Nobody answered our complaint, so it made more sense to dismiss the case and refile it as five separate actions," he said. "We anticipate having the new lawsuits filed by the end of next week."

The Pulte subdivisions involved in the lawsuit are Sun City Anthem, Solera at Anthem, Anthem Highlands, Sun City Aliante and Silverstone.

Mehesan filed the original lawsuit July 5 after contractually required mediation with Pulte proved unsuccessful.

The lawsuit claims that Pulte and its subsidiary, Del Webb, closed escrow on new homes in August and September last year without disclosing that they were going to cut prices by as much as $100,000 in some subdivisions on Oct. 2 because of waning demand.

During the 2004 housing boom in Las Vegas, investors were purchasing homes and "flipping" them for a hefty profit by the time the homes were built six months later. Realtors were undercutting higher prices from Pulte, essentially competing with the builder for new home sales in those subdivisions.

Pulte attorney Greg Gilbert said other home builders experienced a similar situation in which out-of-state investors were artificially inflating the housing market in Las Vegas.

Preliminary estimates by Mehesan show about $5 million in out-of-pocket losses for the Pulte buyers, based on a total purchase price of more than $23 million.

Those figures could grow as more plaintiffs join the lawsuit, he said.