Prices may be down a bit from recent all time highs, but in Las Vegas homes are still selling despite media forecasts of gloom and doom. A one day sales record for percentage of units sold was set in Las Vegas earlier this summer when 229 of the 296 available units were put under contract at Verge, a downtown mid rise development with prices starting in the mid $100s being marketed by Prudential Americana Group Realtors.
The Prudential High Rise Division also set the all time Las Vegas sales record for number of units sold a couple of years ago with the Cosmopolitan project when over 900 units were sold in one day. Historically, the Las Vegas real estate market has never reacted like national "experts" have predicted. While nearby California has faced dramatic swings both up and down in pricing, Las Vegas has maintained a sustained growth even in the face of national recessions.
Currently multi-family investors have become very interested in the Las Vegas market because supply - due to condo conversions and demolition for redevelopment and population growth - has not been keeping up with demand for the last three or four years, creating a ripe market.
As a result, occupancies are running in the high 90% range and rents are rising at a 4% annual clip, a trend that is expected to sustain itself given subprime mortgage meltdown and the fact that while supply is catching up with current demand, it is not catching up with the backlog from previous years.
During the past two years new construction permits are down by almost 30% and new home inventory has finally stabilized. And more than 7,000 people per month are still moving in to Las Vegas attracted by employment opportunities.
An anticipated labor shortage is predicted to make its presence felt in 2008 as many of the high rise properties currently under construction begin opening their doors and hiring full time workers.
"Nevada's job growth has been running three to four times the national average in the past several years," said Terry Johnson, Department of Employment, Training & Rehabilitation director. "Businesses are adding jobs at a staggering rate."
The construction industry alone is expected to grow by about 10,000 jobs in 2007.
For now, there has never been a better time to buy, as there are more Las Vegas homes for sale currently than at any time in recent history. But it seems perhaps the bottom has been reached and things could shift dramatically by as early as next summer. ### Diann Tonnesen and her team of Realtors have been selling real estate in Las Vegas since 1983, and joined Prudential Americana in 2005, after 22 years with Century 21. During the C21 years, the team placed in the national top 20, as well as ranking number ONE in the state of Nevada for sales. In less than a year of being with Prudential, Diann was ranked in the top 10 in the US for total homes sold, out of more than 63,000 agents nationwide.
The Tonnesen team maintains 4 award-winning websites and are recognized as the premier internet specialists in Las Vegas. I've known Diann and her husband Glenn for more than 5 years now, and consider her the top realtor in the US. She knows Las Vegas inside and out.
Diann and Matt Cutts from Google at SEO Convention |
