Abandoned homes were once a rare sight, but are becoming increasingly common as the number of foreclosures continues to rise across the country. And while an abandoned property is a sad enough sight, the growing number of vacated homes is starting to have detrimental effects on neighborhoods.

The NPR recently reported that when owners are forced into foreclosure, they sometimes trash their homes before repossession. Cabinets, windows, AC units and other fixtures are sold off, giving homes the look of disrepair, which hurts neighborhoods.

Continue reading "Neighborhoods marred by rising number of abandoned homes" »

Posted November 12, 2007 11:25 AM by Kevin Chomintra | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email This

1,399 new home sales - that’s the lowest total since January 2000. September numbers are in and they aren’t promising.

The Review Journal reported today that existing home sales are down 50 percent, while new home sales were down 52 percent. Median prices have dropped 8.9 percent to $263,075 and 3.3 percent to $312,639 respectively.

Although none of this is really anything new, it looks like the sales and discounts being offered by builders are beginning to stimulate sales a bit.

Continue reading "Las Vegas builders try to stimulate home sales with discounts" »

Posted October 24, 2007 2:56 PM by Kevin Chomintra | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email This

So I read yet another article about home prices dropping 20 percent in the near future. This time the article was from the Review Journal.

I’m as tired of the loathsome news as the next man, but was pleasantly surprised that the article calls for us all to simply accept it. That’s good advice if I’ve ever heard it.

Continue reading "The good part about the expected 20 percent drop in home prices" »

Posted October 10, 2007 10:21 AM by Kevin Chomintra | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email This

I know I’ve said it in previous posts, but it doesn’t look like the housing market will see much improvement in the near future.

New and existing home prices have been dropping since mid-2006 and are looking to continue falling, according to a report in the Las Vegas Sun. According to the article, analysts are expecting prices to drop another 5.6 percent by May and some are predicting 15 to 20 percent drops by 2010.

We wrote a previous post about the predicted drastic price drop here.

Continue reading "Las Vegas Sun reports dismal housing marketing; Astoria Homes holds its first home sale" »

Posted October 8, 2007 12:29 PM by Kevin Chomintra | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email This

Nonresidential and nonbuilding construction has been on the rise in the first eight months of 2007, increasing five percent over last year, according to the September edition of the McGraw-Hill Construction & Housing Review.

The credit crunch plaguing residential sectors hasn’t effected nonresidential construction nearly as severely. Nonresidential building and public works construction are expected to grow at a moderate pace this year.

Continue reading "While residential construction continues to drop, nonresidential is on the rise" »

Posted October 5, 2007 10:34 AM by Kevin Chomintra | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email This

Governor Gibbons met with lenders in Las Vegas on Thursday to discuss the foreclosure crisis, KVBC reported. He’s working with the lenders to solve the foreclosure problem and help keep people from losing their homes.

According to the report, the governor hasn’t set a time frame for his solutions, but warned that the problem wouldn’t be solved overnight.

Continue reading "Governor Gibbons meets with lenders in Las Vegas to discuss foreclosure situation" »

Posted October 5, 2007 9:15 AM by Kevin Chomintra | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email This

According to the September edition of the McGraw-Hill Constructions & Housing Review, residential housing starts is down 6 percent, that’s $240 billion at an annual rate, with single family housing down an additional 7 percent.

It’s a buyers market with the inventory rising and home sales dropping. The increasing rate of foreclosures is only making the problem worse. Until the excesses are worked off, don’t expect construction starts to go up for at least a year.

Continue reading "McGraw-Hill Review: residential construction starts dropping" »

Posted October 4, 2007 1:08 PM by Kevin Chomintra | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email This

The housing market just can’t seem to catch a break. According to an article in the Review Journal, since mid-2006, home prices have slipped further than they did during the 1990-91 recession.

Professional traders expect a drop of 10 percent more next year. One West Coast university economist predicted a home price drop of 20 percent in Nevada in the next few years.

Continue reading "Housing market still dropping; Nevada home values expected to drop 20 percent" »

Posted September 27, 2007 12:01 PM by Kevin Chomintra | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email This

A report at Bloomberg.com indicates that housing prices in Las Vegas could drop 5.6 percent by next May. According to the article, the Las Vegas market may be an indicator for what happens to property values nationwide in 2008.

Patrick Newport, chief U.S. economist at Lexington, Massachusetts-based Global Insight Inc. says that despite the city’s economy, he expects the housing slump in Las Vegas to last until 2010.

Continue reading "Las Vegas housing market may indicate national trends in 2008" »

Posted September 26, 2007 12:31 PM by Kevin Chomintra | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email This

NuWire Investor recently reported that Las Vegas is the number one spot on its list of the top five overbuilt cities. According to the article, the home inventory reached 23,642 in June, 40 percent of which were vacant.

The article also says that condos and townhouses have been overbuilt and are spending an average 335 days on the market. Average single-family homes were spending about 115 days on the market.

Continue reading "Las Vegas tops list of overbuilt cities" »

Posted September 24, 2007 2:02 PM by Kevin Chomintra | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email This

Work has begun on another mid-rise condo project in southwestern Las Vegas. The Mercer will feature 113 units and is located on Tropicana and Grand Canyon Parkway.

Unlike other mid-rise and high-rise projects that have been delayed by financial difficulties, The Mercer is fully financed by First American Bank in Chicago. The $50 million project has begun construction.

Continue reading "Construction started on mid-rise luxury condo project The Mercer in southwestern Las Vegas" »

Posted September 24, 2007 11:45 AM by Kevin Chomintra | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email This

Although Las Vegas had the lowest number of foreclosures this year in August, Nevada is still leading the country in the number of foreclosures per household. Congress has passed legislation to help ease the crises, but some people claim that bailing out delinquent borrowers could do more harm than good.

Continue reading "Legislation to help lenders met with praise and criticism" »

Posted September 20, 2007 12:33 PM by Kevin Chomintra | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email This

The Review Journal reported today that while local home sales are still down, condos are pushing the median home price up.

Luxury high-rise condos have raised the median home price up 4 percent to $338,560. Meanwhile, the number of new home sales has dropped to 1,970, a 39.9 percent drop from the same month last year.

Continue reading "Las Vegas median home price increases; new home sales drop" »

Posted September 20, 2007 12:12 PM by Kevin Chomintra | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email This

In a report by the Associated Press, analysis of the housing market indicates that national median home prices are rising faster than median incomes. The gap, which has been growing since 1990, is contributing to the struggling housing market and Southern Nevada seems to be matching the national trend.

According to the report, the national median income grew 60 percent between 1990 and 2006, while median home prices more than doubled. Locally that disparity leaned toward the bleaker side as the median income in North Las Vegas doubled, while home prices increased fivefold.

Continue reading "North Las Vegas home prices rising faster than incomes" »

Posted September 13, 2007 12:35 PM by Kevin Chomintra | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email This

The Commerce Department reported today that new home sales rose nationwide 2.8 percent in July. The big news, however, is what’s happening in the west, with the highest improvement of 22.4 percent.

Nationwide new-home sales fell 4 percent in June. Expectations were for modest improvement in July, but with all the shakeups in the home mortgage industry, making it even more difficult for would-be home buyers to secure mortgages and existing homeowners to refinance, analysts still forecast caution.

For instance, even with July’s increase in home sales, sales are down nationwide by 10 percent from a year ago.

Continue reading "July home sales up 22.4 percent in the west" »

Posted August 24, 2007 8:10 AM by Pete Codella | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email This

Home Builders Research announced the average permit count for new homes in the Las Vegas Valley was 1,724 in May. That’s 34 percent less than numbers reported last May.

Based on this year’s averages, the firm’s Vegas Housing Market Letter interpolated new home permits to be at 4,085 for 2007. That would mean nearly an 18 percent decline over 2006.

They’re predicting the permit trend to be flat through the rest of this year, 2008 and into 2009.

Continue reading "New home permits down 34 percent from last year" »

Posted June 20, 2007 11:41 AM by Pete Codella | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email This

The statistics for Realtor-involved April home sales were reported by the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors yesterday (their report doesn’t include builder/private sales data). In short, it’s a buyer’s market.

Compared to 12 months ago, sales of condos and townhomes dropped 45 percent and single-family homes dropped 39 percent.

Continue reading "It’s a buyer’s market" »

Posted May 8, 2007 2:15 PM by Pete Codella | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email This

In Nevada and elsewhere, interest only mortgages and less-than-honest foreclosure purchasing schemes have homeowners in the sub-prime market running scared.

Yesterday in Carson City the Nevada Assembly Commerce and Labor Committee lawmakers heard first-person accounts of wronged homeowners.

Several bills are being considered to counter fraudulent real estate deals.

AB440 establishes mortgage lending as a fraud crime. It applies rules to lenders who must follow standard loan procedures and sets guidelines for those who buy foreclosed properties.

AB329 requires regulations for nontraditional mortgage loans, such as interest-only loans and adjustable rate loans.

AB332 requires an appraisal for real estate transactions that are secured by a lien on another property and gets rid of an option to waive an appraisal.

Scott Bice, commissioner of the Nevada Mortgage Lending Division, said he felt that criminal penalties should be imposed. "It's my belief that until some of the people that perpetrate these actually go to jail, it's not going to make a big impact on the industry," Bice said.

Read the Associated Press article published yesterday titled Civil rights groups urge 6-month halt to foreclosures in the Houston Chronicle.

Posted April 5, 2007 3:32 PM by Pete Codella | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email This

There’s a lot of doom and gloom in stories about Las Vegas housing, particularly by the national media.

It’s true, the market has slowed down. In fact, new home permits are down 48.7 percent since last March.

However, one thing appears to remain relatively stable, and that’s price.

Although it’s a buyer’s market—meaning there are more homes for sale than buyers to purchase them—Home Builders Research reported March 18 that the median price of new home transactions was $315,965. That’s up 2.3 percent year-to-year.

When you take into consideration apartment conversions, high- and mid-rises and condotels, the median price of the traditional single family detached and condominium/townhomes becomes $330,070. This represents an annual decrease of 4.4 percent.

Naturally, the type of home makes an impact on the median price.

The report cautioned readers to take into consideration that resales of high- and mid-rise condominiums are pushing up the resale median and average prices in the Valley. In February the average resale price was $369,005, an annual increase of 10.2 percent.

The single largest contributing factor to the state of Southern Nevada’s housing market seems to be job growth. Las Vegas added about 50,000 jobs last year. Compare that to the nearly 67,000 jobs lost last year in Michigan alone.

The local housing market may be gloomy to some, but the outlook remains sunny for Las Vegas.

Posted March 21, 2007 12:34 PM by Pete Codella | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email This

Yesterday our friend John Restrepo spoke to the Nevada Contractors Association.

Among his comments were these facts and figures:

• Over the next 15 years the Las Vegas Valley population is projected to increase by 53 percent to nearly 3 million people.


• McCarran International Airport is very near its passenger capacity, transporting 48 million passengers in 2006 (an impressive average of 4 million a month).


• Vacant land went from $367,000 an acre in 2004 to $597,000 by the end of last year; and he says it’s not going back down where it used to be.


• Construction jobs in Las Vegas are at a level about twice the national average, accounting for 12 percent of employment.


• Las Vegas enjoys a 6 percent job growth rate, also twice the national average.

He did share some not-so-optimistic news: like the fact that construction job growth seems to have peaked in 2003 and has been slowing since, and residential building permits peaked in 2005 and are expected to return to levels seen in 2003.

Still, $30 million in current construction projects along Las Vegas Boulevard should carry us through amid the slowed residential construction, Restrepo said.

Posted March 14, 2007 7:48 AM by Pete Codella | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email This

You may recall several Stuccoed blogs lately about the Las Vegas housing market—how given perspective gained from a three- to four-year outlook, the market is relatively good after enjoying several years of multi-digit property value increases.

According to the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller home price index, in 2004 Las Vegas enjoyed a 53 percent year-over-year rise in single-family homes. We set the mark for best annual performance.

Last week the final numbers were reported for 2006.

True, home prices have peeked and since dropped. Still, in 2006 prices rose 0.9 percent. I wouldn’t call that a disaster.

The report is a bit skewed because it only accounts for single-family homes and not condominiums. This is a detail that remains a missing part of the equation for Las Vegas housing reports.

Posted March 8, 2007 1:54 PM by Pete Codella | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email This

Maxim magazine plans to brand its name onto a $1.2 billion hotel casino to open in 2010 on the Las Vegas Strip near Sahara Avenue.

The 20-somethings and 30-somethings of the world should be jubilant. Just consider the front cover of the magazine's June issue: Sex! Girls! Gold! Movies! Terror! are the teasers on the layout, topped by a banner line asking: Could You Become a Living Legend of Sex?

Agreed, the men in the 60-something set would say the magazine and its ethos are for guys who have all of their brains in their gonads. But this is Vegas. It produces money in myriad ways. Playboy, probably granddaddy of American skin mags, has taken a couple of floors in the newly opened Fantasy Tower at The Palms. The first Playboy Club in 25 years. Obviously Christi Hefner agrees with her aging dad that there's money to be made with the bunny ears in Vegas.

Continue reading "Maxim mag plans to maximize its image with Las Vegas casino" »

Posted June 7, 2006 5:25 PM by Paul Murad | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email This

Median Las Vegas new home prices increased 12.5 percent in March to a record high of $320,379, a local market analyst has noted.

Along comes Forbes, a maverick financial magazine, with the categorization of Las Vegas being overpriced by 30 percent, despite dropping to 28th from 18th on a list of most overvalued housing markets nationwide.

Larry Murphy, SalesTraq president, said in a seminar, "All they (Forbes) did was look at what appreciation did historically in those markets and decided it must be overpriced. But prices don't go up or down based on history. Prices go up or down based on supply and demand."

Continue reading "Are Las Vegas homes overpriced? Forbes says yes; local analysts say no." »

Posted April 20, 2006 2:08 PM by Anthony Greno | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email This

It's to be six towers rising six to 15 stories in height on nearly a square city block at Third Street and Bonneville Avenue in Downtown Las Vegas. It's to have 341 residential units plus 24,000 square feet of retail space.

Studio, walk-up, loft and penthouse units ranging from 600 square feet to 2,500 square feet make up the Juhl, to be priced starting from the $400,000s.

Continue reading "Downtown mixed-use, mixed-rise condo project under way" »

Posted April 14, 2006 9:59 AM by Anthony Greno | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email This

Some developers have learned the hard way that a website and a dream do not a high-rise condo make.

According to Applied Analysis, a local business advisory firm, only 23 percent of Las Vegas Valley's 98 condo projects were under construction in the fourth quarter last year. They also reported that there were 210 condo towers combining for 61,000 units planned or announced in the fourth quarter, yet only 72 of those towers, or 15,600 units, were actually being built.

Take a look at what local real estate writer Tony Illia has to say about luxury condo projects falling by the wayside in this week's Las Vegas Business Press.

Posted April 11, 2006 9:36 PM by Pete Codella | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email This

The March numbers are in from the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors and as predicted earlier on Stuccoed, the number of single family residential units sold last month increased over the January and February lull, just like in years past.

While it's true that 19.4% fewer homes sold in March 2006 compared to March 2005, last month saw a 41.1% increase in home sales over February 2006.

So, while everyone was running around throwing darts at the so-called housing bubble, homeowners, buyers and realtors were busy doing what they do - buying and selling homes.

Continue reading "Las Vegas home sales increase in March" »

Posted April 6, 2006 4:51 PM by Pete Codella | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email This

In downtown Las Vegas there's a slumbering giant called Neonopolis. It rests mostly unused and underutilized as far as Mayor Oscar Goodman is concerned.

The retail and entertainment center on Fremont Street has been for sale since May 2004.

It appears, as reported in today's Review-Journal, that local businessman Rohit Joshi has reached an agreement with Prudential Real Estate Investors to purchase the 250,000-square-foot shopping center that cost $100 million to construct.

However, until the deal closes escrow, mum's the word per the buyer?s contract. So you didn't hear it from us (but we'll keep you posted on the progress of the transaction).

Posted March 29, 2006 2:03 PM by Pete Codella | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email This

Is the housing bubble leaking? The rate of increase in prices of existing homes is slowing, a tracking firm reports.

Statistics issued by SalesTraq indicated an easing in median price of existing home in recent months, the March 24 Review-Journal reported. For February the existing home median price was $279,900. That compares with $277,000 for January, $284,970 for December, $281,648 for November, $281,250 for October, and $284,500 for September.

"My Realtor friends have been whining about how slow the resale market is," SalesTraq President Larry Murphy told the R-J. "Volume is down and prices are not increasing that much."

In the new construction category, new home sales rose 22 percent in February to 2,853 and median prices jumped 11.5 percent to $313,990, SalesTraq reported.

Posted March 27, 2006 9:31 AM by Anthony Greno | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email This

Remember my earlier post regarding the City of Henderson and Clark County, that they're in a little turf war over ownership of the up-and-coming South Strip?

Apparently the fate of the land may lie in the hands of the BLM.

Commentary can be found in today's Sun.

Posted March 21, 2006 2:50 PM by Pete Codella | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email This

For a couple months now we?ve read in local newspapers about how the Las Vegas housing market is showing signs of cooling. Industry ?experts? have chimed in on both sides of the housing bubble debate.

Perhaps we could shed some historical light on the topic.

According to the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors, what we?ve seen this January and February. is precisely what our community has seen for the past three years. Each January and February there are fewer real estate transactions than the rest of the year.

However, if you look at median home prices, from Feb. 2004 to Feb. 2005, it increased by 39.4%. Then during the same period from 2005 to 2006 the median home price increased by 8%.

Perhaps we?re just settling into a more normal rate of growth.

Continue reading "Debunking the Las Vegas housing bubble" »

Posted March 20, 2006 9:05 AM by Pete Codella | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email This

Those who emulate the Nevada mountain sheep and practice stair-climbing as a ritual will love the three-story floor plans being introduced by Richmond American Homes priced in the upper $200,000s.

The vertical boxes, which may allow developers to squeeze more homes onto each acre of increasingly expensive land, run in square footage 1,430, 1,532, 1,552, 1,695, 1,730, 1,814 and 1,958 square feet, depending on the subdivision chosen.

Continue reading "Three-story homes making debut in Las Vegas Valley" »

Posted March 17, 2006 5:29 PM by Anthony Greno | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email This

Most cities require that real estate developers contribute to infrastructure needs such as new roads, schools and parks.

Las Vegas and North Las Vegas are considering new fees for developers and both cities are expected to hire outside consultants to help determine whether developers should help foot the bill.

Read what Brian Wargo has to say about the impact fees in today?s Sun.

Posted March 14, 2006 8:18 AM by Pete Codella | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email This

Although formal announcement is scheduled for Friday, March 10, it?s already been published that two 10-story luxury condo towers are being planned for the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, site of the NASCAR 2006 this weekend.

The condos would overlook the second turn of the 1.5-mile tri-oval track, the Review-Journal said on its March 2 front page.

That?s IF the U.S. Air Force says ?Yes,? ?OK,? or something similar to no objection. Nellis Air Force Base, adjacent to the Speedway, is virtually ?grandfathered in? as the operator of fast low-flying fighter jets, Stealth and Predator craft vital to U.S. defense.

Continue reading "Speedway to sprout condos?" »

Posted March 8, 2006 3:31 PM by Anthony Greno | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email This

It?s not something we?re accustomed to here in Las Vegas ? a slipping median home price.

But according to the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors, the median home price continues its downward trend for the second straight month.

We finished 2005 with a median home price of $312,500. January concluded at $310,000 and last month came in at $309,000.

Perhaps the market is softening, but February?s numbers are still up 8% from the same month last year.

I wouldn?t claim ?recession? just yet.

Maybe us Vegans will just have to get used to single-digit appreciation instead of the 40% climb we witnessed in 2004 and 20% increase in 2005. Life?s rough.

Posted March 8, 2006 9:45 AM by Pete Codella | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email This

Interested in what has been built by Station Casinos at Charleston and I-215?

Today?s Review-Journal offers a sneak peak at the new Red Rock Resort complete with photos.

Opening on April 17, it?ll be Vegas? newest hotel, casino, convention center, spa, entertainment and gaming mecca. And from what I?ve heard, they?ve gone out of their way to add special touches that make this locals casino bigger and better than anything else.

Posted March 7, 2006 9:41 AM by Pete Codella | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email This

Are you a NASCAR fan? Would you prefer to watch a race from the comfort of a condo instead of the crowded stands?

The Las Vegas Motor Speedway has the answer: own your piece of the Speedway by purchasing your very own track-side condo. It could be yours in less than two years, providing a zoning variance is granted and demand is as expected.

Read the story in today?s Review-Journal.

Posted March 2, 2006 10:54 AM by Pete Codella | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email This

Read what Las Vegas Sun writer Tom Gorman has to say about affordable housing in Las Vegas after attending yesterday's conference sponsored by the Southern Nevada Home Builders Association.

Posted March 1, 2006 12:15 PM by Pete Codella | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email This

Many experts agree that while Vegas home sales are slowing, it's not a sign of a quick devaluation.

Thanks to the growing Las Vegas economy and high number of new jobs and move-ins, the forecast continues to be more growth.

It's just that no one knows exactly how fast the growth will, or can, occur.

Read what the Review-Journal reports from Home Builders Research President Dennis Smith from his remarks Tuesday at the 2006 Builders Show.

Posted March 1, 2006 10:45 AM by Pete Codella | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email This

A mixed use luxury condo project is coming to the west part of the valley bringing with it loft living made popular by artists in New York, Chicago and Boston.

R