Feb. 16, 2007
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

REAL ESTATE: Housing sales slide in 40 states

By MARTIN CRUTSINGER
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

A construction worker frames a house at Allerton Park near Charleston Boulevard east of the Las Vegas Beltway. Sales of new homes in Las Vegas slipped 7 percent to 36,051 in 2006. Photo by K.M. Cannon.

WASHINGTON — The slump in housing deepened in the final three months of last year, with sales falling in 40 states and median home prices dropping in nearly half the metropolitan areas surveyed.

Formerly red-hot areas such as Las Vegas were among the hardest hit as the five-year housing boom cooled considerably in 2006.

While some economists said the worst may be over for housing, others predicted more price declines to come until near-record levels of unsold homes are reduced.

The National Association of Realtors said the states with the biggest declines in sales from October through December compared with the same period in 2005 were Nevada, down 36.1 percent; Florida, down 30.8 percent; Arizona, down 26.9 percent; and California, down 21.3 percent.

In all, the Realtors said sales declined in 40 states, six states showed gains and one state, Utah, had no change in activity in the final three months of last year. There was not enough information from Idaho, New Hampshire and Vermont to make a comparison.

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Feb. 02, 2007
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Housing cooling? Hardly, forecaster says

By HUBBLE SMITH
REVIEW-JOURNAL

A worker frames a house Thursday at Allerton Park near Charleston Boulevard. Crystal Ball 2007 presenter Steve Bottfeld predicted Las Vegas home prices will rise this year. Photo by K.M. Cannon.

The only thing missing from real estate consultant Steve Bottfeld’s presentation Thursday at Crystal Ball 2007 was his cheerleader outfit.

Bottfeld, principal of Marketing Solutions, predicts that median new home prices in Las Vegas will increase 7 percent to 9 percent this year and existing home prices will rise 3 percent to 7 percent, most of it coming at the end of the year.

Those forecasts contradict what housing analysts and business sources such as Fortune magazine and Moodys.com have forecast. They’re calling for price declines ranging from 6 percent to 30 percent.

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Jan. 27, 2007
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

HOUSING: Home sales end 2006 on decline

By HUBBLE SMITH
REVIEW-JOURNAL

Click image for enlargement. Construction continues Friday on homes in the Valencia Terrace development near Bonanza Road and Pecos Road. The median new home price in Las Vegas was $337,781 in December, up 8.9 percent for the year. Photo by Ralph Fountain.

Las Vegas took a beating last year from analysts who predicted housing prices would decline anywhere from 6 percent to 30 percent, that it was one of the most overvalued markets in the nation and the “bubble” had finally burst.

Although new home sales started strong in 2006, at least part of their predictions were ringing true. By the middle of the year, the housing market had definitely pulled the parachute, finishing with six consecutive months of declines. There were 3,034 new home closings in December, compared with 4,161 in December 2005, Home Builders Research reported.

For all of 2006, Las Vegas had 36,051 new home sales, down 7 percent from the previous year.

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Jan. 27, 2007
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Statewide sales show increase of 1.9 percent

By SEAN WHALEY
REVIEW-JOURNAL CAPITAL BUREAU

CARSON CITY — Statewide taxable sales rose 1.9 percent in November over the same month in 2005, representing $3.9 billion in goods sold, the state Department of Taxation reported Friday.

For the first four months of the fiscal year that began July 1, taxable sales are up 3.5 percent over the prior fiscal year.

Clark County showed a 0.1 percent increase to $2.8 billion in November 2006 over November 2005. Washoe County taxable sales fell by 3.8 percent for the same period.

Eight counties showed a decrease in taxable sales for November 2006 compared to November 2005: Carson City, Churchill, Douglas, Humboldt, Lincoln, Lyon, Washoe and White Pine counties.

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Jan. 19, 2007
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Study has state second in U.S. in December, finds one foreclosure per 392 homes

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

RENO — A new report by a California tracking firm said Nevada had the nation’s second-highest foreclosure rate in December.

The report by RealtyTrac found that there was one foreclosure for every 392 households in the Silver State, second only behind Colorado. The national average was one in 1,055 homes, the report said.

The report also found a wide disparity between Northern Nevada and Southern Nevada.

According to the report, Washoe County had 32 homes, one for every 4,498 households, in some stage of foreclosure in December, about four times better than the national average for that month.

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Jan. 14, 2007
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Despite housing slump, sales of seven-figure homes grow

By HUBBLE SMITH
REVIEW-JOURNAL

It’s a buyer’s market in Las Vegas — unless you’re looking at luxury homes.

While the median price of an existing home has flattened for the past year and may even be poised for a decline, the high-end market is soaring.

James Beasley of Sotheby’s International Realty just picked up a $12 million listing for a penthouse unit at Turnberry Place, the four-tower luxury condominium complex on Paradise Road. It’s priced at about $2,000 a square foot, or twice the starting prices at Trump International Tower.

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Jan. 10, 2007
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

By JENNIFER ROBISON
REVIEW-JOURNAL

It’s become a familiar refrain.

Housing in Las Vegas is woefully overpriced. Home builders have created too much inventory, and investors desperate to flee the market are dumping entire subdivisions on the resale market. The supply glut will send home values in Southern Nevada tumbling in the next few quarters, perhaps as much as 8 percent. Or 9 percent. Or 21 percent. Or 28 percent.

The local real estate market has thus far held steady, but that hasn’t stopped a prominent national publication from delivering fresh prognostications of housing doom and gloom in the Las Vegas Valley.

Fortune magazine’s soothsayers, who include analysts from Moody’s Economy.com and Fiserv Lending Solutions, are predicting that housing prices in Las Vegas will fall 6.6 percent in 2007, and shed an additional 8.1 percent in value in 2008.

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Jan. 09, 2007
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Median dips 2 percent in December; inventory falls for second straight month

By HUBBLE SMITH
REVIEW-JOURNAL

Las Vegas median home prices dropped to $306,100 in December, down 2 percent from the same month a year ago, and the inventory of homes for sale shrank for the second straight month to 17,834, the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors reported Monday.

Realtors sold 1,644 single-family homes during the month, a 32.5 percent decline from a year ago.

The number of homes for sale on the Multiple Listing Service decreased 9.6 percent from 19,729 in November and is down from a record high 23,474 in October. It’s still up by a third from last year.

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Nov. 30, 2006
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

New-home closings in LV down 22 percent during month

By HUBBLE SMITH
REVIEW-JOURNAL

Sales of new homes fell in October by the largest amount in three months, a fresh sign of the cooling taking place in the once-sizzling housing market.

The Commerce Department reported Wednesday that new-home sales totaled 1.004 million at a seasonally adjusted annual rate, a 3.2 percent decline from September. That was the largest drop since July, when home sales plunged by 9.2 percent.

Home prices, meanwhile, rose in October, after falling in September.

The median price of a new home sold in October was $248,500, up 1.9 percent from the same month a year ago. The median price is where half sell for more and half sell for less.

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Nov. 21, 2006
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Economic index edges up a fraction

By HUBBLE SMITH
REVIEW-JOURNAL

NEW YORK — The U.S. housing market showed more frailty in the third quarter, when home sales plummeted in 38 states, hitting Nevada, Arizona, Florida and California particularly hard, government data showed Monday.

The once-booming real estate market’s persistent weakness over the past year has reined in expectations for economic growth but hasn’t been severe enough to offset a rising stock market, lower gasoline prices and improved consumer expectations.

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