Local home sales up, prices down

By HUBBLE SMITH
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

Existing-home sales in Las Vegas increased 4.5 percent in February and median prices fell 12.8 percent from the same month a year ago, the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors reported.

February’s 2,390 single-family home sales are “fairly solid” for what is traditionally a slow time of the year, Realtors association president Rick Shelton said Tuesday.

Nearly half of those sales were cash-only transactions, suggesting a return of heavy investor activity in Las Vegas. The median price was $135,694, up 0.6 percent from $134,925 the previous month….

(to finish reading click here; Las Vegas Review Journal; Las Vegas Real Estate )

Here is the link for the Home Buyer Tax Credit 2010.

As the deadline approaches, we are getting more and more interest in this tax credit. Don’t miss out on this one! The link above leads to the IRS website so you can read what they have to say about it. If you have additional questions, feel free to contact us. There is a lot of misinformation out there so be careful. That is why I linked directly to the source; The IRS

If you would like another source of information, I suggest Brad Malkin of Prospect Mortgage. Brad is extremely knowledgeable on all the ins-and-outs of this credit.

Once again, by popular request, Larry Murphy and Steve Bottfeld offer their vast insight and expertise into the Las Vegas Real Estate Market. If you don’t yet subscribe to their site yet you really should, and if you haven’t yet attended one of their Crystal Ball seminars, you have missed a priceless real estate resource. Check it out; Crystal Ball seminars

January data suggests that Las Vegas’ new residential housing may have taken a slight step forward from last year.
—–>SALES: remained stable in the existing home sector;
—–>INVENTORY: continued to decline; and
—–>PRICES: remained relatively stable, with one critical new positive.
Beyond the $1.5 billion in aid for the five worst foreclosure states (including Nevada), one factor may help new home sales for the balance of 2010: New home sales exhibited the lowest average price per square foot in more than two years.

Here are the details:

SALES:

Existing home sales dropped by just over 1,000 units from the prior month.
While prices have languished between $120,000 and $125,000 since April 2009, for the first time since June, 2008, the number of bank-owned homes did NOT exceed the number of “regular” sales.

New homes started the New Year with a 9% jump over last January at 401. The figure was 61% less than December. Indeed, it was less than any figure in the last eleven months.

INVENTORY:

Existing home inventory increased 160 units in January to total 10,422. While that’s a 1.5% increase over December, it is a 47% decline from last year. More importantly, almost half that inventory (47%) is short-sale, another indication that banks are recognizing that short-sales result in smaller losses for them than foreclosures.

Banks repossessed 1,351 homes in January, about 43% less than last January. That figure puts them on pace for about 16,000 in 2010, less than what we saw in both 2008 and 2009. While these REO homes are selling, they are selling at bargain basement prices. That depresses pricing numbers.
If the REO figure continues at this level, it will keep existing home prices depressed at their current levels throughout the rest of this year.
The number of New Home Communities slipped to 229, one of the lowest totals since July 2007.
New home permits totaled 314. That’s a 72% increase over last January, but about average for monthly totals in 2009.

PRICE:

The median price of an existing home was $120,000 – about the same it has been since April of last year. However, 47% of the 3249 existing home closings this month were bank-owned homes with a median closing price of $115,000. The other 53% of existing home closings were non-bank owned homes with a median closing price of $125,000.

Bank-owned homes have colored pricing since June of 2008. The January numbers are the first indication that impact on pricing could be waning. But, as we have said so often before: one month does not make a trend.

The median price of a New Home was $201,515 – just 12.8% below last January and 9.7% below December.
The recent histories for both new and existing home suggest price stabilization. But, something else has occurred which could spur new home sales later this year.
The average price per square foot of a new home in January was $101.36 – the lowest level in more than two years. The average price per square foot of an existing home in January was $77.53 the highest level in more than three months.
The difference of $23.83 between the average price per square foot of a new and existing home is the smallest in nearly a year.
These numbers will be worth watching over the next few months.
We’ll have much more analysis on these numbers at our next Crystal Ball on April 21. Please save the date.

Respectfully submitted,
Larry Murphy Steve Bottfeld

Las Vegas CityCenter

I had such a strong response to my blog about CityCenter, Las Vegas, that I have posted about it again. Most of you wondered about living there so this time I have provided links to help you find what you are most interested in. I love this kind of mixed-use real estate. How cool to descend from your gorgeous Las Vegas High-rise to go shopping and dining in world-class surroundings… Amazing!

CityCenter is an urban community filled with fine art and spectacular architecture. It is home to the 4,004 room ARIA Resort & Casino, Mandarin Oriental, Las Vegas, the astonishing Crystals retail and entertainment district, Vdara Hotel & Spa, The Harmon Hotel, and Veer Towers. All these come together amidst plazas and common spaces alongside pools and beautiful landscaping. CityCenter is a place of high-tech meeting spaces, brilliant residences, world-class spas, extraordinary dining, sophisticated gaming and modern art, seductive bars and Viva ELVIS™ by Cirque du Soleil®, a harmonious fusion of dance, acrobatics and live music that pays tribute to the life and music of Elvis Presley.

To live at CityCenter is to experience life in one of the world’s most remarkable settings. CityCenter offers a range of possibilities that redefine city living in the heart of Las Vegas.

Welcome to Vdara
VDARA CONDO HOTEL: The ideal balance of access and escape-just steps away from Bellagio and ARIA Resort & Casino.

We invite you inside an enclave of Access and Escape. This breathtaking non-gaming, non-smoking, all-suite hotel and spa delivers exceptional experiences with a sense of familiar pleasures. Stay at Vdara and the experience will stay with you forever.

THE RESIDENCES AT MANDARIN ORIENTAL, LAS VEGAS: Superb appointments and amenities from a time-honored brand in a legendary setting. Mandarin Oriental, Las Vegas is an exceptional luxury 47-story hotel, located at the center of the energized Strip and the forefront of CityCenter, a revolution in sustainable design. Our 23rd floor sky lobby soars above the city’s brilliance, offering guests a non-gaming oasis of oriental calm.

VEER TOWERS: Iconic residential architecture soars from the heart of CityCenter’s retail, dining and entertainment district. Experience life at a higher frequency with Veer Towers at CityCenter Las Vegas. Veer Towers celebrates the essence of a high-style, high-rise lifestyle that taps into the action of CityCenter’s dynamic core and makes urban living a Las Vegas reality.

Here is a Fantastic Non-Profit Opportunity. At one time an assisted-living facility, now the City Of Las Vegas has begun to show interest in it. The price was recently drastically reduced. This is the chance to help those that really need it.

Contact us for the most up-to-date-information regarding this property;

David Brownell Team
Keller Williams Realty
Office (702) 220 9696
Fax (702) 243-2396

Open just a little over a month now; Las Vegas has a new jewel in the crown. Welcome to CityCenter. Located in the heart of the Las Vegas Strip, CityCenter may be the hottest piece of Las Vegas real estate ever. Aria, Vdara, The Harmon and Mandarin hotels anchor CityCenter, complimented by Crystals retail shopping and entertainment. For those that want to live right in the middle of the action, there is Veer; two 37 story residential glass towers each housing 335 gorgeous lofts. This is prime Las Vegas real estate and around town the excitement is still hanging thick in the air.

Prospect Mortgage

Hi Everyone,

Just two short weeks later, the holiday’s are already a distant memory. The kids are back to school and most of us are again focused only on what we see right in front of us. If you haven’t set some goals for 2010, it would be a great time to jot them down on paper. If you have set them, it’s great to check on them at least bi monthly to make sure you’re on target, to revise them/make more relevant as needed, etc…. Hopefully we are all looking farther onto the horizon and adding value where and to whom we can.

The bond and mortgage markets did well last week with the benchmark 10 yr treasury yield falling to its key near term support at 3.60. Now that year end bonuses are settled, traders are back focused on reality and the sub par earnings, weak employment and weak retail sales. The outcome was a 470 point fall on the DJIA. The political defeat of a Democrat in one of the most democratic states in the country, and waffling in Washington politics as politicians stampeded to the center to adopt a populist stance; voters in Mass, Virginia and New Jersey have sent a clear message to Washington; be careful how you vote as we will be as well. One of the most surprising developments last week was the way the Senate is back-peddling the confirmation of Ben Bernanke for his second term. Greenspan, Paul Volker, Warren Buffett, most former Fed officials; and last but not least, investors want Bernanke confirmed but now politicians that are increasingly worried they too may be tossed on the unemployed rolls in November have weakened Bernanke support. It would be a huge mistake to change the head of the fed at this juncture but stranger things have happened and in the end, there is enough brain power and talent in Washington recognize this.

This week should be one of increased market volatility in the financial markets. The equity markets are likely headed lower but the action will be choppy with rallies and selling causing big swings in prices and sentiment. The week has $118B of Treasury auctions with 2 yr, 5 yr, and 7 yr note auctions that always generate concern; however, heavy selling in the stock markets will act as a counter balance to keep the interest rate markets in a tight range early this week. Lots of economic data this week to consider; existing and new home sales for Dec, two measurements of consumer sentiment, and the first look at Q4 GDP on the advance report on Friday (estimates are for GDP growth in the quarter to have increased 4.6%). The FOMC meeting is on Tuesday and Wednesday and we will all be watching for any change in verbiage or policy (hoping for an extension of the fed program to buy mortgages keeping rates low for an extended period). Without confirmation, Bernanke’s term ends at the end of this month so the Senate will have to work fast (not one of their strong suits).

As always, our team is available to help in any way. We have several new/enhanced products and streamlined processes to add value to your business.

May 2010 bring only health and happiness to you and your family. I appreciate you.

My Best Regards,

Bradley Malkin
702-869-8790 Direct
702-279-9111 Cell

888-216-0903 Toll Free
877-672-7172 E-Fax
Brad.Malkin@ProspectMtg.com
www.MyProspectMortgage.com/BMalkin

So here is your chance to talk about you. What do you love or care very much about? What would you tell others if you could? Tell me…

Las Vegas Real Estate Market

With great pleasure I once again present Fast Facts courtesy of Larry Murphy and Steve Bottfeld of SalesTraq. Larry and Steve always do a fantastic job analyzing the Market and all of us have reaped great benefit from the insight they have provided. You can visit their Nevada website here; CrystalBallSeminars

So now I present;
December’s Fast Facts

The gradual stabilization of the Las Vegas real estate market was the theme of December’s Fast Facts data.

We look forward to seeing you there!

For more information and what you can do to help, Click here.