Low inventory of existing homes said to factor in increase. Las Vegasand Henderson is undergoing a temporary surge due to low inventory of existing homes and the poor condition of foreclosed homes.
Home Builders Research reported 310 new home sales in February, a 31% increase from 237 a year ago. The median price fell 2.3 % to $193,900.
"We expect that new home prices could probably rise by 4% to 5% in the next few months."
"I don't expect the sales trend will continue past mid-year because lenders will start to process foreclosures again and bring them back into the resale supply to compete with new home sales."
Even with the foreclosure slowdown, resale activity continues at a record pace with 4,132 existing home sales in February. The two month total is up 26% from last year. The median price dropped $10,000 to $105,000.
"People are getting tired of looking at foreclosures.New homes are competively priced with existing homes and they are usually built better, under warranty,with the latest technology."
But SalesTraq President Larry Murphy questions real estate agents fears that banks have shut off the foreclosure pipeline. Even though notices of default have dropped dramatically, foreclosues continue unabated, though they are down from a year ago.
He also questions claims that homes in the $80,000 to the $125,000 range are being snapped up with multiple offers. "Then why are there currently 4,910 listings on the Henderson MLS and Las Vegas MLS in that price range?"
He estimates a 5.5 month supply and not the one month supply estimated by others.
Clark County added 13,462 residents, an increase of 0.7 percent. State Demographer said that the increases are another indication that Nevada's economy is emerging from the great recession.
The State population increase of 0.7 percent from July 2010 to July 2011 is about what the state should expect from natural growth - births. It follows 12 months in which the State lost 27, 677 residents, or about 1 percent of it's population.
"This doesn't support that large numbers of people are moving out of the State at this time." And, if some are moving out, we are having enough people move in, or having enough children to offset those moving out."
Hardcastle estimates that Clark County gained 7,900 gaming jobs from 2010 to 2011 but overall lost 2,400 jobs because of a 3,800-job drop in government employment.
Nye County saw an estimated 1.7 percent increase in population. In northeast Nevada, counties grew about 1.5 percent, attributed to the mining boom.
"Gold prices have been sustained, and that industry continues to grow, while traditional industries such as Financial, Construction, Manufacturing and Retail continue to lose jobs."
New job numbers show Nevada's economy faring better than early estimates suggested, but state and local markets still face a long road to full recovery.
Experts pointed to other positive signs most notably a jump in wages and hours worked. Early estimates showed that Henderson and the Las Vegas Valley created 4.300 jobs last year.
But a revised number shows that the market actually created some 9,500 jobs last year, said Steve Brown, Director for the Center of Business and Economic Research at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
"There were more consumers and residents entering the market, and actual job growth is positive. All signs are that the economy is entering the recovery side of the cycle."
What's more, the employment department reported gains in hourly wages and weekly hours worked. Average hourly earnings for all employees on private non-farm payrolls rose 31 cents or 1.6 percent,to $19.67 from December to January.
To see faster job growth, either other sectors need to start growing as fast as gaming, or the market needs a big pickup in construction.
"And recent national gains of about 230,000 positions a month may not be sustainable, as U.S. job growth could retreat to 170,000 new jobs in coming months. That would hold back state and local improvements, because slower national job growth means fewer people coming to Vegas to visit, and less discretionary income for those who do visit."
So, it would probably be mid-2014 before joblessness in Nevada and Las Vegas retreats below 10 percent.
Nevada's January jobless rate remained 4.4 percentage higher than the nation's 8.3 percent rate.
The banks will pay roughly $20 billion to help borrowers avoid foreclosure. Most of that will go to reducing loans for about one million of the 11 million households that own more on their mortgages than their homes are worth.
The banks will also pay $5 billion to the Federal and State governments. About a third of that will go into a fund to be used for sending $2,000 checks to 750,000 people who were improperly foreclosed upon from 2008 through 2011.
ROUGHLY ONLY ONE MONTH'S SUPPLY OF AVAILABLE PROPERTIES AT CURRENT SALES LEVELS
Anything in the range of $80,000 to $125,000 is snapped up with multiple offers, said a local Realtor.
Listings for real-estate or bank-owned homes decreased, to 1,437 in March, down 40% from 2,643 a year ago, data gathered from the Las Vegas and Henderson MLS.
A drop is expected for the next few months as a result of the robo-signing law passed last October, which has throttled the inventory of bank-owned homes in Las Vegas.
Lenders filed just 195 notices of default, the first step in the foreclosure process, in January, compared with 3,364 notices in the same month last year. Default notices have been around 200 a month since October.
"I don't see an immediate solution" said a spokesman for First American Title Insurance. Unless they call a special Legislature and try to get this law amended, because the Legislature doesn't meet again until 2013."
About 14,000 homes are pending or contingent sales, a majority of them short sales "stuck in the mud", awaiting approval for a sale at less than the mortgage balance.
"I think banks are holding on to the inventory so as not to flood the market." The law has encouraged homeowners in default to remain in their homes without making mortgage payments."
Some homeowners realize they can stay longer because they think banks are not going to move quickly.
Another Realtor said that not all of the foreclosures were justified.
Real Estate agents are becoming more guarded with their listings as inventory has dissipated. Lenders on FHA mortgages aren't interested in doing a short sale because they are insured by Housing and Urban Development.
"Look at HUD homes. They are typically nicer homes now in Southern Highlands and Rhodes Ranch. There are definitely more buyers with less inventory. Will that correct the market? I don't think so, but its definitely changing things."
CONDO AND TOWNHOME MARKET IN HENDERSON AND LAS VEGAS IS HOT RIGHT NOW!
Sales of single-family homes in Las Vegas and their median price increased in February from the previous month, while the inventory of available homes for sale decreased and continued to decline according to the Las Vegas Association of Realtors.
Realtors sold 3,053 homes during the month, a 4.2 percent increase from January and a 17.8 increase from February 2011.
The median price rose to $121,000, up 2.5 percent from the prior month, but still down 5.5 percent from a year ago.
Inventory declined to 18,870 from a peak of more than 24,000 in 2007. Of those only 6543 units are available without contingent or pending offers.
"It's the supply and demand theory, a logical chain of events happening", said a leading Realtor.
"If banks get to full-bore on releasing inventory, we might see prices go down again."
The median price for 741 sales of Condos and Town Homes in February was $60,000, the highest its been since May. Condo activity declined 16.2 percent from a year ago, to 4,016 units in February.
"The market has bottomed out" according to another Realtor, I have buyers all day for Condos under $80,000."
Some real estate agents are saying that prices could go up by as much as 10% in the next few months if lenders figure out how they can comply with the robo-signing law that went into effect in October.
HENDERSON BECOMES THE NEW HOME FOR A HUGE WINCO SUPERMARKET
Opening a store at Stephanie street and Wigwam Parkway in Henderson and another in the northern valley, Winco Foods entered the Las Vegas competitive food market.
The company now has 82 locations in Washington, Nevada, Idaho, California, Utah and Oregon and is number 30 on the Supermarket News list of top 75 food retailers this year, and expects to have sales of $5.2 billion this year.
Customers won't hear music pumping through the store or see employees bagging groceries and advertising will be minimal, too.
That's all part of the company's "bare-bones" approach to business and an attempt to keep prices lower for name brands.
A spokesman said, "we save money that way and that's how we are able to compete with the national brands."
Winco stores do not require membership and do sell some bulk items like candy, flour and pet treats.
"We have been described as a cross between Smiths and Costco - not everyone needs 45 pounds of cereal at once."
There is a station where customers can grind their own peanut butter, for example.
One Henderson resident said the prices and selection lured her to the store on opening day and she has been watching their website anxiously.
The two new stores, open 24 hours, each employ about 200 full and part time employees.
DOMED 60,000 SEAT STADIUM ON UNLV'S LAS VEGAS CAMPUS PROPOSED TO REGENTS
Domed stadium could be finished in five years, cost about 500 million, and seat 60,000, according to a briefing given to higher education leaders Thursday.
The entire project, initially proposed in February 2011, would include the stadium, a renovation of the Thomas and Mack center, thousands of units of on-campus housing and retail space on the 332 acre campus.
The first phase would be the stadium, originally proposed for the T and M parking lot. UNLV plays in Sam Boyd 40 year old stadium, across town with only 36.000 seats.
UNLV President Smatresk said financing would come from 3 principal areas; a special taxing district, private donors, and revenue generated by the stadium and retail outlets.
The tax district would allow the University to keep any taxes generated on the property itself. It would not raise tax rates or create any new taxes. The UNLV president said, "the new stadium would at least double the $250 million annual impact the T and M has."
A spokesman said, "ground could be broken on the stadium at the end of next year and should take about 3 years to complete. Construction of the retail and housing would follow.
A spokesman said, "it would be built to accommodate a professional soccer team, although there is no agreement with a team right now."
The UNLV President said he has already received substantial interest from potential private supporters, calling the project a clear benefit to the city of Las Vegas, the region and the state.
SkyVue UNDERWAY ACROSS FROM MANDALAY BAY IN LAS VEGAS
Noise from 130 concrete trucks filled the pre-dawn air Thursday as construction
workers poured the foundation for the 500 foot SkyVue observation wheel across
from Mandalay Bay.
The 5 hour project set the stage for building the 200 million dollar project that will change
the landscape of the southern Las Vegas strip, but the venue won't be open until July 2013.
A spokesman said, "we have to build the wheel first before we build the retail building below."
The retail portion will include 7 food-court options, 5 sit-down restaurants and a dozen stores ranging from clothing outfitters to electronics.
The completed wheel will be difficult for anyone to miss. The towering structure will feature 32
gondolas that each seat 24 people; a 50,000 square foot LED sign will project from the wheel's center.
A 30 minute ride will take visitors 50 feet higher than Mandalay Bay with views facing north on
the Strip -"the most spectacular view of the Las Vegas Strip."
It won't be the only view in town, though. Caesars Entertainment broke ground last year on its own site dubbed Project Linq which will include a 550 foot observation wheel between the Imperial Palace and Flamingo resorts to be opened in 2013.
Admission to the SkyVue wheel will be about $25 per person. The project will employ about 700 people during construction, followed by 500 full time jobs once the venue opens.
The developers are trying to use as many local contractors and sub-contractors as possible.
MODEST SALES GAINS IN THE DEPRESSED HOUSING MARKET HAVE YET TO LIFT PRICES
The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home price index shows prices dropped in December from November in 18 of the 20 cities tracked. The steepest declines were in Atlanta, Chicago and Detroit. Only Miami and Phoenix saw an increase.
The declines partly reflect the typical slowdown in the Fall and Winter. Prices in Atlanta, Las Vegas, Seattle and Tampa dropped to their lowest prices since the housing crisis began.
"We are 25 years back on our prices" reported a spokesman, with a median existing home price of $100,000 in January, down from $104,900 in December.
Las Vegas led the nation with 40 to 50 percent home price appreciation during the boom years of 2004 and 2005. Then came the crash. Prices have plummeted 65 percent from their peak.
Nationwide, prices have fallen 34 percent since the housing bust, and are now back to 2002 levels.
"The pick-up in our economy has simply not been strong enough to keep home prices stabilized."
There is hope among some economists that an increase in sales could stop prices from falling further later this year. "There are compelling reasons to believe that the end of the housing crash is finally in sight."
Home prices tend to follow sales by about 6 months. When sales rise, prices rise too, and an increase in prices would likely create a positive cycle.
The Case/Shiller monthly index covers half of all U.S. homes. It measures prices compared with those in January 2000 and creates a 3 month moving average.