Analysts are pointing to October as if it’s the housing market’s version of Groundhog Day. In this version, the groundhog has seen his shadow and there are six weeks of winter ahead.
Analysts say Las Vegas retailers in for slight improvement
Monday, Nov. 22, 2010
Even retail analysts and shop owners are wary of being labeled as Scrooge this year. They say that although sales will remain weak by historic standards in Las Vegas, the now-underway holiday season will be an improvement over the past two years. Retail sales across the country will increase 2.3 percent over last year, according to the National Retail Federation.
Even retail analysts are wary of being labeled as Scrooge this year. With the holiday shopping season under way, local analysts and retailers said although sales will remain weak by historic standards in Las Vegas, 2010 will be an improvement over the past two years.
The real estate outlook for Las Vegas in 2011 is dismal from a national perspective and deep-pocketed investors are likely to focus on other markets, according to a New York-based real estate analyst.
A business journalist with Fox News told Southern Nevada executives that the election of Barack Obama as president and Democratic policies led to the deep recession, and the takeover of the House of Representatives by Republicans will lead to improved economic growth.
Las Vegas home prices are projected to fall 16 percent by next June and another 7 percent in early 2012 before rising by the end of that year, according to a Wisconsin research firm.
The housing market is going to take some time to recover, but the new director for the Center for Business & Economic Research at UNLV says it’s showing signs of improvement.
An arbitrator’s ruling siding with investors in their fight with collection companies over delinquent fees they pay for foreclosed homes is likely to curtail any compromise on a pending dispute before a state board.
In a high-rise market hurting for sales, success has been redefined. The closing of high-rise condominiums at CityCenter has beaten expectations, even though it trimmed prices 30 percent a year ago and only one-third of those under contract were completed. Closings have slowed to a trickle in the past two to three months, but MGM Resorts International has no plans to cut prices further to boost transactions.
Las Vegas home values as measured by Zillow fell 4.2 percent in the third quarter and pushed the region’s percentage of underwater properties to 80.2 percent.
Foreclosure filings in Nevada fell in October, led by default notices dropping 17 percent, but the state recorded its first year-over-year increase since September 2009, according to a report released by California-based RealtyTrac.
Southern Nevada home sales continued to weaken in October and prices fell as a result, according to a report released today by the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors. The 2,599 sales of single-family homes were 7.4 percent lower than September and down nearly 27 percent from October 2009.
A national expert said the run-up in home prices, overbuilding and subsequent foreclosures will stick with the housing industry for years. He suggested appreciation and construction will lag for the next 10 years.
Two economists have two takes in stark contrast of each other on the effectiveness of a government bailout of banks and the $787 billion stimulus package.
An arbitrator has sided with investors in a battle in which they argue that collection companies are overcharging them for delinquent fees on foreclosure homes.
The weak economic recovery in Southern Nevada kept buyers on the sidelines in one of the slowest Septembers in recent history for the Las Vegas housing market, according to a California-based research firm.
Lower prices have made valley attractive, economist says
Friday, Oct. 29, 2010
Although Las Vegas is mired in a deeper recession than the rest of the country, a Boston-based economist said Southern Nevada’s economy is primed for a recovery because it’s attractive to businesses and retirees.
It’s not college football where teams have bragging rights about the No. 1 ranking, but builders are coming down to the wire to see who gets that satisfaction in Las Vegas.
Office vacancy rates still high, but recovery signs beginning to appear
Friday, Oct. 29, 2010
The commercial real estate market led by the office sector appears to have halted its slide and is showing signs of stability that has been lacking over the past couple of years, analysts said.
Las Vegas home prices will end the year deteriorating 3 to 4 percent from 2009, but housing analyst Larry Murphy said prices may appreciate slightly in 2011.
The expiration of the federal tax credit to buy a home has helped the apartment market, according to a local research firm. The southeast valley had the highest occupancy at 94.2 percent.
Positive news has been lacking when it comes Southern Nevada’s economic outlook, with a high jobless rate and tourists not coming to Las Vegas or spending as they have in the past.
The sale of new and existing homes in Las Vegas continues to decline compared to 2009, but the market has started to stabilize since a federal tax credit expired. SalesTraq reported the 4,300 existing home closings in September were the most since 4,968 in June, but it was a 15 percent fall compared to September 2009.
Small businesses advised to use social media and the Web to their benefit
Friday, Oct. 15, 2010
Sarah Lee Marks couldn’t have picked a tougher economic climate to start a business, but the Henderson resident said she wouldn’t have it any other way.
The sale of homes in Southern Nevada by Realtors continued to tail off in September, and that weaker demand has dropped prices, according to the latest report from the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors.
The developers of one of Las Vegas’s few major commercial projects’ under construction during the recession is doubling down on Southern Nevada’s recovery.
The commercial real estate market showed some signs of life in the third quarter. The office vacancy rate in Las Vegas decreased for the first time in seven quarters.
Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor said going to a judicial merit selection system is good for business and has enjoyed strong support from the private sector across the country.
Lenders are picking up the pace of foreclosing on commercial properties in Las Vegas in a move that could further reset prices and prompt rents to fall even further, analysts said.
Advocates: Legislators need to make it No. 1 in budget priorities in 2011
Friday, Sept. 24, 2010
Two of Nevada’s leading advocates for economic diversification said the Legislature must make it a higher priority if it wants to lure companies to the region and make a dent in unemployment.
Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor said going to a judicial merit selection system is good for business and has enjoyed strong support from the private sector across the country.
The economy has curtailed business for Las Vegas law firms that have stepped up their advertising and are slowly turning to social media to build their brands.
Despite decline, Nevada still ranks No. 1 in nation
Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2010
Even though the number of homewowners behind on their mortgage payments continues to rise, Las Vegas and the rest of Nevada had fewer foreclosures in August, a research firm reported on Wednesday.
Housing prices not likely to fall much further, Brookings Mountain West projects
Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2010
The Mountain West region, which includes Nevada, is on pace to wait another seven years before job levels return to those before the recession, according to a report released by Brookings Mountain West.
In some parts of the Las Vegas Valley, home prices have recently gone up — by double digits. And even where prices went down from the second quarter of last year to the same quarter this year, it was mostly in higher-end subdivisions where prices had dropped the least in the past two years.