The battered new home segment is coming back slightly as resale inventory tightens and prospective
buyers find themselves competing against multiple offers from cash investors, housing analyst Dennis
Smith said Friday.

The President of Home Builders Research revised his projection upward to 5,000. New home sales fell
to the lowest level on record in 2011, with just 3,894 closings, and Smith previously projected about the
same number in 2012.

The median price of a new home rose to $201,040 in March, up one percent from a year ago.

Ken LoBene, Director of Housing and Urban Development in Las Vegas said that one of the
factors that defines a declining market is the number of investors. 54% of March home sales were all cash
transactions, indicating heavy investor activity, compared with about 22% nationally.

Las Vegas also has an abnormally high market share of mortgages backed by FHA, about 60% compared to about 13% in most cities. "That cannot continue as we have a mission to protect the FHA fund."

Smith of Home Builders Research said traffic through new home models has been strong over the past 3 weeks, and sales per subdivision has doubled.

Demand is so strong in some new home communities that investors are buying homes "from dirt" buying homes before start of construction, paying cash without a discount.

"It's still one step forward and two steps back" said an economist, we need to see at least 6 months of steady job growth, at least 3 to 4,000 local jobs a month."