GREAT 4 BEDROOM HOME IN PAINTED DESERT

Nevada is reported to be the current national leader in home prices, reporting a price gain of just over 22 percent- over double the national increase.

Nevada home prices currently exemplify how high home prices encourage higher rates of inventory, economic improvement, and encouragement to interested investors. When inventory prices are on the rise, it shows a general sense of improvement in local real estate recovery. Higher Nevada home prices are raising interest in building more homes. With the addition of new homes, business is also on the rise for home furnishing retailers, remodeling supplies and other household purchases that contribute to economic recovery.

With Nevada home prices rising, buyers are encouraged to act fast in order to secure properties at their current rates. This amps up the amount of home for sale, homes being purchased, and a need for consistent inventory. Clark County alone has supplies just under 20,000 new homes during the past year.

Nevada home prices show the current demand for housing inventory, and close to 60 percent of home sales have been conducted via cash sales. Cash buyers and investors lead the market with home purchases intended for home rentals, over mortgaged homebuyers who plan to inhabit a home. The Las Vegas real estate market currently reports 14 to 20 months of shadow inventory. With Nevada home prices on the rise, the current state of the local real estate market has a greater chance for maintainability.

The economic climate in the U.S. has altered the real estate industry in a substantial way. Home prices have been altered significantly due to the fluctuating status of the nation’s road to recovery. Two studies have proven that Nevada (specifically, Las Vegas) have boomeranged more quickly than other national read estate markets.

While Nevada home price gains are paving the way for other market recoveries in the U.S., home prices in Vegas are currently still below the apex. Cash buyers remain the main source of local real estate investment, and Nevada home price gains are in direct response to the current demand for inventory. With a renewed emphasis on Vegas real estate, interested parties wonder how long home prices will hold out at their current rates.

Current single-family home prices fall in the range of $167,000. Nevada home price gains show a 30 percent increase from one year ago. Home prices rose close to 42 percent during that time. While Nevada’s home price gains offer a sense of economic recovery, the challenge becomes deciphering whether current rates can maintain stability during the economic shift happening both locally, and across the country.

Recovering slowly from severe economic slump, Las Vegas home values are finally on the mend. The rise of Las Vegas home values are predicted to continue to rise in the future, as the economic climate slowly repairs itself.

Local Las Vegas home values bottomed out during the the beginning of 2012, but have reported much higher numbers at the end of the first quarter this year. Nationally, Las Vegas ranked second in year-to-year appreciation. Overall, national home values have risen just over 5 percent. Home values in Las Vegas are predicted to rise to over 7 percent by next year (that’s over 4 percent higher than the national home value projection).

Las Vegas home values, sale of new homes, new home construction and home prices are all rising- and investors are buying up Las Vegas homes in order to rent them out for profit. While the market is continuing to increase, the boom years showed much higher figures. Las Vegas economy is showing slight improvements, however, there is still a long way to go to recover completely from the hard-hitting recession.

A national poll shows that Nevada is still registering at the top of the list as far as foreclosure and credit-card delinquency rates are concerned. Homeowners who are underwater hold the highest percentage of the population in Nevada currently, and mortgage debts are still a problem. Las Vegas home values are increasing however, which shows promise for economic improvement.

Recently, the amount of Las Vegas land space that is available to homebuilders and commercial builders has become increasingly diminished.  Finding the physical means to pull together available Las Vegas land to build on, means that Vegas' lack of dirt needs to increase quickly to meet high demands for expansion. 

During the recession, home builders held back on making large land purchases, as the need for new homes was nil.  Now that the market is back in business, builders are buying up land space at faster rates. 

Current conditions aren't the same as they were before the recession, and Las Vegas land space that's available for building is having to be thrown together to meet rising demands.  Plots of 20 acres or less seem to be the only areas available; it is extremely difficult to find land plots larger than 40 acres, currently.  However, by this the end of 2013 the Bureau of Land Management has plans to auction off over 130 acres of land, and an additional 400 acres by autumn.  In total, 30,000 acres of land could be available for auction in Nevada, with an additional 110,000 acres just outside of the Las Vegas metro area. 

Las Vegas land availability has been a topic of concern since the real estate climate has started to change in recent months.  Relatedly, land prices have risen significantly, and this is a cause for interest to homebuilders and home buyers, alike. One important question to consider is, with rising land costs, what is that going to do housing costs?

Las Vegas home sales are improving, slowly and steadily.  While there is hope for continued recovery and improvement in the home sale market in Nevada, the real estate market is still in a fragile state.

Just over 1,600 new homes in Las Vegas have been sold during the first three months of 2013.  This figure is twice the amount of Las Vegas home sales that occurred during the same period just one year ago.  New home construction is also on the rise, with close to 1,800 new home building permits having been pulled during the beginning of this year.  New home prices that are having a positive effect on Las Vegas home sales show that sale prices are up 13 percent from one year ago.

On a national average, the housing markets that were hit the hardest are now exhibiting the biggest price jumps in homes for sale.  Even so, there are some concerns that the current real estate increases may not be able to hold water over the course of time.  The question remains:  are current Las Vegas home sales indicative of a turn around for real estate in Nevada?

The issues that persist in Las Vegas show that just under 60 percent of homeowners were underwater during the last quarter of 2012.  This was the highest figure among the U.S.'s biggest cities.  The market in Las Vegas is still in a recovery mode, and it may not be clear just yet if we are completely on the comeback trail. 

A $16 million expansion is currently in the works for the Boulder City hospital.  While federal officials suss out the details, construction of the health care facility in Boulder City, Nevada is expected to begin this summer, and be completed by 2014.

Improvements to the Boulder City hospital include:  a new surgical center, new 10-bed rehabilitation center, eight added long-term beds for patient care, a psychiatric unit for geriatric patients, and a bigger emergency care department. 

Funding for the project is coming from various sources including $13.87 million loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Development program, and $2.44 million loan from the Rural Community Assistance Corp.  The Boulder City hospital has been in financial straits for awhile, and funding from sources such as the USDA is affording the hospital expansion and renovation.  The facility is the only hospital in Boulder City and has been effected by rising operational costs, and lower patient quantity. 

Originally opened in 1973, the only other expansion of the Boulder City hospital occurred in the early 1990's.  This will be the first rehabilitation project in years, and will increase the the hospital by over 19,000 square feet. 

Cash buyers are currently accounting for one-third of home sales.  While it seems that the housing market is in a state of recovery, there is question to whether this is a temporary upswing, or whether this housing recovery will remain status quo.

It seems that the overall opinion is that the housing recovery will not only last, but it will continue to improve over time.  While there are suggestions that mortgages are being curbed due to the influx of high investor purchases of real estate, according to other facets of the economy, there is improvement in areas that also effect the housing market.  Job growth is improving, which is a good indication that the economy is slowly returning to a more stable place.  Annual increases in housing recovery statistics show 7.3 percent for a 10-city composite, and 8.1 percent for a 20-city composite.  Housing markets that had been hit harder in recent years are showing major increases in home prices- an indication of housing recovery.

Currently, the hottest markets are Las Vegas, Atlanta and Phoenix.  Las Vegas homes prices are up over 8 percent since the beginning of the year, and up 27 percent over the year.  Alternately, Northwest home prices are showing a slower rise.  New York home prices have risen only less than 1 percent year-over-year.  While there are signs of a housing recovery overall, there is still a long way to go. 

Residents and visitors of Tuscany Village in Henderson, Nevada are contending the conversion of Mohawk Drive- the primary road that leads into the Henderson neighborhood. Potentially, the community Tuscany Village in Henderson reroute could cause traffic issues for residents and visitors to the private residential area.

A reroute presents traffic issues by forcing travelers to make an unsafe left-hand turn onto main throughway, Lake Mead Parkway. The Tuscany Village reroute also presents issues for commuters looking to save time- the travel required to exit Tuscany Village would increase, making the commute longer and more treacherous.

Lawyer for the Henderson community, Bill Curran, claims the substitute suggestions for the rerouted roadway that have come from Cadence developers, are unsubstantial. Suggestions from the Cadence project have the capacity to add about one mile of commuting time to travel in one direction.

Issues posed from the Tuscany Village in Henderson reroute are being addressed in a continuance of comments from the Vegas community, which is scheduled for April 11, 2013.