Las Vegas Homes News

April 14, 2006
Oh yes, we live in Green Saddle Ridge Desert Vista Pointe . . .

By Brendan Buhler
Las Vegas Sun

Judging by the names of Las Vegas communities, we live in Italian villas, or in the hills of Scotland, or in homes overlooking meadows, forests or the Pacific Ocean.

In truth, the planned community of Pacific Greens is 280 miles from the closest Pacific harbor, Southern Highlands Golf Club is not quite as bedewed as the links of Scotland’s St. Andrews, and while Forest Hills has trees - and is indeed lovely - they muffle the traffic noise from the not-so-bucolic U.S. 95.

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April 26, 2006

Money overcomes no-growth spirit

By Brian Wargo
Las Vegas Sun

It may eventually go down in political annals as the battle between the tortoise and the error.

The desert tortoise and a numerical dispute are the focus of the latest plot twist over a proposed Boulder City ballot initiative aimed at selling 107,000 acres of vacant land - and making residents instant millionaires in the process.

Clark County officials argue that ballot initiative proponents erred in including an 85,000-acre desert tortoise preserve in the land that they propose to sell, with a sizable chunk of the estimated $25 billion-plus in proceeds to be divvied up among Boulder City’s 15,000 residents.

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April 28, 2006

By Brian Wargo, Las Vegas Sun

When Hong Kong tycoon and worldwide developer Henry Cheng bought hillside property in Henderson 15 years ago, he envisioned building homes offering spectacular views of the Las Vegas Valley.

Some Henderson residents, however, see nothing at all attractive about the $250 million project under way, which they argue has scarred Henderson’s hillsides and permanently detracted from the city’s natural beauty.

The terraces that have been cut into the hillsides for the 472-home Crystal Ridge subdivision “look worse than anybody envisioned,” said Maureen Progar, a member of a Henderson hillside preservation group.

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Many seeking homes in older, in-town neighborhoods

By Jennifer Shubinski
Las Vegas Sun

May 08, 2006

When newlyweds Eva and Brooks Compton went house-hunting, they quickly dismissed the new suburbs sprouting on the outskirts of Las Vegas. They had no use for two- and three-story stucco homes built cheek-to-jowl on postage-sized lots, in master-planned communities governed by homeowner’s associations.

Instead, they moved into Old Vegas - the McNeil neighborhood, just west of I-15 and south of Charleston Boulevard. It’s where he grew up, and now he wanted to own his own house there.

“Moving back here was the best decision I ever made,” said Brooks Compton, who manages a downtown law office just a few minutes away by car.

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By TONY ILLIA
BUSINESS PRESS

May 04, 2006

Valley home sales took an across-the-board shellacking in April. There were only 2,230 new homes sold last month, an 11.5 percent drop from March and 28.7 percent lower than a year ago, reports the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors.

Median home sale prices also softened to $310,000 in April, which is 1.7 percent less than the prior month, but still 5.1 percent higher than a year ago.

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By TONY ILLIA
BUSINESS PRESS

April 27, 2006

Pulte Homes recorded $3 billion in first quarter revenue, or 18 percent more than in 2005, the company announced. It had 8,602 home closings at an average price of $336,000. Sale prices increased 9 percent in the first quarter due to changes in the mix of houses closed combined with higher asking rates.

“We continue to implement initiatives in support of our core business strategies: market share expansion through diversification, operational excellence, people development and financial discipline,” Richard J. Dugas, Jr., president and CEO of Pulte Homes, said in a statement. “By focusing on these key business drivers, Pulte Homes delivered solid first quarter operating and financial results, while ending the quarter with a strong balance sheet and well positioned land pipeline.”

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BY TONY ILLIA
BUSINESS PRESS
April 24, 2006

Rising property prices, escalating construction costs and a shrinking local land inventory has local homebuilders looking at places like Pahrump, Mesquite and Coyote Springs as the next bedroom communities to Las Vegas. Vacant property values now average about $800,000 per acre and higher in the Vegas area, and building costs have increased 14 percent or more during the last year alone.

Homebuilders subsequently are giving rural communities outside the valley more serious consideration. The land is still cheap and plentiful. Local officials are welcoming. Permitting is faster. And there are fewer water restrictions.

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Investors see bigger profits in condo sales

BY TONY ILLIA
BUSINESS PRESS

May 08, 2006

Condominium conversions, investor activity and tear downs created a supply drought in the Las Vegas Valley apartment market in the first quarter, according to Michael Belnick, an apartment specialist with REMAX Commercial Real Estate. The result was a record low 3.29 percent vacancy rate, down from the valley’s standard 5 percent.

There were 150 apartment complexes, totaling 5,604 units, sold in the first quarter, or 80 fewer properties than the previous year. The sales brought $535.7 million in revenue, which is $288.7 million less than in 2005. But the sale price climbed to an average of $95,600 per unit, marking a valley record. Prices are now $10,000 per unit more costly than a year ago and 46.5 percent higher than in 2004.

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BY TONY ILLIA
BUSINESS PRESS

May 01, 2006

Centex Destination Properties plans to break ground next week on the repackaged $1.5 billion, 2,400-unit “Urban Village” mixed-use project on Las Vegas Boulevard South, between Frias and Pyle avenues. The firm purchased the 50-acre site and project plans from Diversified Real Estate Group in December.

Although the sale terms are confidential, county records show that Centex paid $35 million for 13.59 acres being used for the first phase, or $2.575 million per acre. Diversified, by contrast, purchased the entire site in 2004 for $34.8 million, or $696,000 per acre, county records show.

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BY TONY ILLIA
BUSINESS PRESS
April 24, 2006

Rising property prices, escalating construction costs and a shrinking local land inventory has local homebuilders looking at places like Pahrump, Mesquite and Coyote Springs as the next bedroom communities to Las Vegas. Vacant property values now average about $800,000 per acre and higher in the Vegas area, and building costs have increased 14 percent or more during the last year alone.

Homebuilders subsequently are giving rural communities outside the valley more serious consideration. The land is still cheap and plentiful. Local officials are welcoming. Permitting is faster. And there are fewer water restrictions.

Read the rest of this entry »