Renee Burrows - Las Vegas NV Valley - Homes For Sale - SRES - SRS - AHWD - ABR

The absorption rate for Las Vegas Short Sales has remained stable for February 2008 Inventory has risen dramatically (+158). Pending units has also risen dramatically by +403 units. This is because the MLS board is REQUIRING agents to change status with an offer and make it contingent on bank approval. Many under contract are no where near bank approval. Solds have increased by a dismal 3 units.

There are many reasons for the lack of closings in this market and it is outlined in this post.

Short Sale Synopsis:

• Listings 3/1/2008: 4720
• Pending 3/1/2008: 768
• Closed 1/21-2/21/2008: 67
• Month's Inventory: 70.4 (=5.8 Years Inventory.)
  

One thing you really need to consider when buying or selling short is to make sure the list agent is EXPERIENCED in this niche. These deals are hard to pull whether it is or is not an experienced agent.

We have seen the Las Vegas, NV high rise real estate market have a phenomenal (and scary) jump in inventory in the last several months. For several reasons:

• Too many speculators in that market. They want to close n flip. They are not interested in holding, renting or living in them. Each time a building closes, we see an increase of inventory.
• Mortgage market madness has reduced the amount of loan products available to jumbo, second, vacation or investor type property owners. The ones who have very little money down and marginal credit, that is. So the buyer pool for both resales and new went kaput. Loud and hard too.

Here are the high rise stats:

Rentals:

• 328 Listed 3/1/2008
• 18 Under Contract 3/1/2008
• 40 Leased 12/21-2/21/2008
• 8.2 Months Inventory

Resales:

• 796 Listed 3//2008
• 77 Under Contract 3/1/2008
• 13 Closed 1/21-2/21/2008
• 61.2 Months Inventory (=5.1 years)
  

Resale inventory is up from 56 months inventory last month. The rental inventory is at 8.2 months. When you compare it to the entire market of rentals that hovers around 3 months of inventory.

I think it is apparent that many purchases are completely speculative = not enough demand for living in. Some rent prices just barely cover the owner's HOA.

Since July speculators have been bailing from their new construction high rise escrows because of lack of mortgage products for funding. They are also leaving their steep deposits at the builder and not looking back.

Unless demand for high rise LIVING increases over speculation, we will be seeing a major correction in this part of our market. We have a little over 14000 units under construction with another 50000+ more on the drawing board. Every time a building closes, we see 20-50% of that building go on the market.

The beautiful part about this is that when you put the pen to the paper for land and development costs, it costs about $1800/square foot. You can buy right now with the median price being in the mid 500's for a square foot. Will deflated dollar against foreign currency be able to bail us out? Is Las Vegas unique enough to attract those foreign investors?

We are experiencing a quick rise in resale pendings. New construction is starting to look better to buyers who are getting shut out in bidding wars in the resale market, yes I said that and it is happening!

I expect new construction statistics to look better and better every month

Las Vegas New Construction Units Sold:

• January 2008: 2707
• December 2007: 2261
• November 2007: 2643
• October 2007: 2752
• November 2006: 3006
• December 2006: 3203

This Rhodes Ranch Area resale market report was generated on March 1, 2008 (graph on bottom):

• Active Listings: 437
• Under Contract: 110
• Sold 1/25-2/25/2008: 29
  
• Months Inventory: 14.1
• Low: $114,900; High: $3,490,000; Median: 252,000(listing prices only)

Rental Market Report generated on March 1, 2008 (graph on top):

• Active Listings: 72
  
• Under Contract: 14
• Leased 1/25-2/25/2008: 49
• Months Inventory: 1.5

Median List Price for an area rental: $1395/month, Low: $750, High: $5000

Information from GLVAR is deemed reliable but not guaranteed.

Last Market Report Generated February 17, 2008

Click here to view past market report graphs and active rental, resale and new construction listings in the Rhodes Ranch Area

Includes: Apache Hills, Apache Springs (The Falls), Astoria Homes at Rhodes Ranch
(Independence), Canyon Trail, Huntington, Liberty @ Warm Springs, Maplewood, Rhodes
Ranch, Richmond@ Rhodes Ranch, Sierra Madre, Venezia, Vistana.

For More information on the Rhodes Ranch Area or the most current market reports & market activity graphs: www.LivingAtRhodesRanch.com

Las Vegas, NV Area Real Estate has had pent up demand for real estate since I got my license in 2005. People continue to move here in record numbers. Real estate for them was either a) unaffordable or b) they were unable to obtain a loan because loan products tightened.

I cannot say this enough, real estate is MOVING here. I read a depressing article online this morning saying prices still have to correct here is a direct quote: Analysts said this overabundance of unsold homes would continue to depress sales and prices for some time to come.

Pendings are up another 200 some units from an article I wrote 5 days ago. I am expecting pendings to double from January to March 2008.

New construction prices have corrected and bounced up already, REO's have an abundance of attention since three auctions in December and what we have is complete insanity here in the Las Vegas area.

I had three sign calls on a listing that was under contract midweek last week just this weekend. This is in a neighborhood with half to three quarters of a million dollar homes, mind you. I had two Realtor (R) calls on the same listing asking what are the odds of it falling out of contract. I have had TWO Realtor (R) calls in the last week on a house I had listed and it went under lease option contract in August of 2007, expected to close in August of 2008, asking what are the odds of it closing because they have interested clients. This is a three quarters of a million dollar house. I had a friend list an REO property at around noon on Saturday. She had 20+ calls from Realtors(R) and by 3 PM a Realtor (R) had stolen the key out of the lockbox so her clients can be the lucky ones to get this home. We are seeing multiple offers on bank owned properties and I am dealing with buyers playing that game right as we speak.

There are a couple of things I want to point out:

DO NOT LISTEN TO THE MEDIA. I am expecting REO prices to bounce up slightly. With pendings rising so quickly, in the next month we will see the beginning of the closings and some absorption. While their logic is correct, they are using January's numbers without foresight. When you look at February's pending numbers, you can see the game is changing.

~AND~

DO NOT EXPECT A SAME DAY APPOINTMENT when you are calling me blindly. We are running ourselves ragged and it isn't unusual for us to be booked solid a week out. Please make sure you share your wants and needs with us AS SOON as you start your online search so we can prepare to show you homes properly and you will have everything you need when you are ready to make an offer. All my clients are special to me, just because the media is saying we are slow, does not mean that it is true!