Southern Nevada home sales picked up in June, but prices dipped slightly, according to a report released today by the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors.
A national brokerage firm is strengthening its presence in Las Vegas. Grubb & Ellis said it's acquiring a 100 percent interest in its Las Vegas affiliate and plans to add to its Las Vegas office staff of 30 brokers who specialize in office, industrial, retail, investments, multi-family and land.
The vacancy rate in the commercial real estate market in Las Vegas continues to increase. CB Richard Ellis reported the average retail vacancy rate increased during the second quarter.
High-end retailers along the Strip — think Tiffany, Louis Vuitton and Chanel — are mourning the loss of splurgers — vacationers who reach deeper into their wallets for a big-ticket purchase because that’s one of the frills and thrills of the Vegas escape.
The Nevada housing market faces more challenges, and prices should stay at their existing level for about three more years, according to UNLV economists.
Even though construction has come to a virtual standstill in Las Vegas, local developers said there is still plenty to keep them busy while they wait for the economy to rebound.
A last-minute jump in home sales expected by people taking advantage of a federal tax credit that expired April 30 hasn’t materialized so far, according to the latest statistics. SalesTraq reported Tuesday that existing home closings in Las Vegas in May fell to 4,186, down from 4,323 in April and 1.6 percent below sales levels of May 2009. The National Association of Realtors reported Tuesday that May’s sales fell 2.2 percent from April.
Faced with more than 5,000 empty high-rise condominiums in Las Vegas and buyers staying on the sidelines in the weak economy, developers are turning to the rental market.
Karen Mills, administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration, told members of the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce last week that although the economy is recovering, small businesses are not rebounding like larger companies.
None of the figures shows the Las Vegas office market is headed toward any recovery — but that hasn’t stopped commercial brokers from showing some optimism when they see any increase in activity.
Eighteen months ago, no one could have predicted the fanfare and national attention for a rundown 46-year-old, 11-story office tower in downtown Las Vegas that was 20 percent occupied.
Foreclosure filings fell by double-digit margins in Nevada in May, but the state still kept its No. 1 national ranking. The 14,346 filings in May were nearly 12 percent lower than April and 16 percent below their level of a year ago, according to California-based RealtyTrac.
The end of the homebuyer tax credit curtailed sales in Southern Nevada in May as prices held steady, according to statistics released today by the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors.
Analyst predicts good bargains in shopping centers
Friday, June 4, 2010
The Las Vegas retail market will remain weak through 2011, but it’s poised for a quicker comeback than the rest of the nation in part because of the near halt of construction and a recovery in California, according to a national analyst.
What was purchased for a bargain by today’s standards in the 1950s helped put Las Vegas on the national map when it comes to master-planned communities.
One of the first retailers in the Forum Shops at Caesars when it opened in 1992 has closed and is looking for another locale to open. West of Santa Fe shuttered its doors Sunday after the Forum Shops did not renew its lease for 6,000 square feet on three levels.
Condos included in firm’s analysis inflate number of new homes
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
A New York Times story notwithstanding, Las Vegas is not in the midst of a new-home building boom. The story in the Times raised eyebrows for reporting that building was booming in a city of empty houses.
Prospective buyers cautious amid sour real estate market, Perini dispute
Friday, May 28, 2010
The closing of condo sales at CityCenter has gotten off to a slow start, according to analysts who track the housing market. Through the end of April, MGM Mirage and Dubai World, the owners of the project, have closed on 78 of 1,543 units at the Vdara condo-hotel, according to SalesTraq.
Former Cabinet member predicts recovery will take longer than expected
Friday, May 28, 2010
The economic recovery remains weak, Americans’ consumer spending will be tepid for a while because of stagnant wages and Las Vegas will have to rely more on foreign visitors to bolster tourism, former Labor Secretary Robert Reich said.
Southern Nevada’s medical office market is expecting a boost from health care reform that will add to the number of insured people and bolster demand for medical services.
One of the most prestigious office complexes in Las Vegas hasn’t been immune to the recession. The Hughes Center has lowered rents by up to 20 percent and has undertaken a campaign to aggressively market itself.
Banks aren’t shying away from taking back land from owners defaulting on their payments and that in turn is driving Southern Nevada land prices to their lowest level in seven years.
The Southern Nevada economy will remain weak through the end of July and it won’t show substantial improvement until there’s growth in tourism or construction, according to a UNLV report released Monday.
Local business leaders remain pessimistic about a recovery in Southern Nevada’s economy anytime soon and are hesitant to hire people and make capital expenditures, according to a survey by UNLV’s Center for Business and Economic Research.
A District Court judge last week dismissed one of two class action lawsuits filed by investors buying Las Vegas-area foreclosed homes, setting the stage for at least some compromise with collection agencies the investors claim are overcharging them.
The number of homes delinquent in their mortgage payments continued to rise in the Las Vegas valley, and banks foreclosed on a greater number of homes statewide in April than March, according to California-based real estate research firms.
The federal tax credit designed to spur home sales appears to have ended on a whimper in Las Vegas and may foretell a downturn in the housing market in the coming months, analysts said.
Las Vegas continues its overall No. 1 ranking in troubled commercial assets despite clearing up some of its bad loan problems, according to New York-based Real Capital Analytics.
Businesses looking to secure loans have an advantage if they have a compelling story and a solid personal credit history, according to banking and small-business executives.
A federal homebuyer tax credit is set to expire June 30, but a Las Vegas real estate brokerage is participating in a program designed to mimic its effect.