Below it the real estate info my realtor send me a while back. Also visit condohotelcenter.com for good info and updates on Condo hotels.

March 2006

There were 3,632 new home recorded sales in March bring the 1st quarter total to 9,366. This was the highest number of 1st quarter total since 1987. This March sales represent 18.6% increase from last year. The median price went up to $316,147, a 12.4% increase from last year. Excluding condo conversion, the median price is $343,184.

There were 4,454 recorded resale transactions for March bring the 1st quarter total to 10,914, a decrease of 14% from last year. The median price was $285,000, a 10.9% increase from last year. This also represent a slight increase from last month, a revisal of trend the last three months.

I have a detail monthly Las Vegas real estate market analysis from Home Builders Research, Inc. Anybody who is interested can request a copy.

"IT IS AN EXCELLENT TIME TO BE BUYING A HOME. DEALS FOR CONSUMERS ARE PREVALENT IN MOST SUB-MARKET AREAS AND PRICE RANGES."

February 2006…

There are 2,872 recorded new home sales with median price of $308,753 with the condo conversion (705 units) sales included. This was a 21% increase from last year. The median price without the condo conversion was $337,285. This was a 10.6% increase from last year. Those are the good news. The bad news is the cancellation rate is now averaging 25%-30% around the valley. "Much of the the buyer’s remorse is related to large number of listing and sales incentives being thrown at the buyers and their Realtors. Rising interest rate, stricter lenders, etc., are other reason for this high cancellation". There is a "incentives war" going on for the past few months to the delight of the buyers. Instead of lowering the prices which in turn causes appraisers and lenders to have serious concerns about consumer demand, builders are offering more incentives to attract buyers.

There are 3,203 recorded resale transactions for February. Another 10.6% decline from last year. The median price is $282,000, an annual increase of 8.5% but a 1.1% decline from last month. The resale market have been going down since September.

The weekly mortgage rate is up to 6.35%. Las Vegas is averaging 15% yearly increase in visitors the last 5 years. KB Home up to No.1 from No. 3 in the annual Fortune Magazine’s America’s Most Admired Companies. Pulte is close No. 2. Pulte and it’s subsidiary, Del Webb, still dominate the quality department.

We are entering a period of flat price for new and resale probably for the next six months. The land price dropped 47% in the fourth quarter to $376,200 per acre after hitting a high of more than $600,000 per in the 3rd quarter.

January 2006

There are 2,862 recorded new home sales with a median price of $ 303,751 with the condo conversion (795 units) sales included. Without the condo conversion, the median price is $343,198. This January number represent 22% increase from a year ago. The new home market is still pretty hot.

There are 3,257 recorded resale transactions for January. This is a 9.2% decrease from the total last January 2005. It is the lowest January sum since 2003. The median price is $285,000 which is 13.5% increase from year to year basis. The resale market is cooling off a bit.

By zip code, here are the average appreciation of the houses for 2005.

10%-12%..89081, 89084, 89086, 89052, 89141, 89134, 89148, 89125
13%-15%..89131, 89149, 89144, 89135, 89139, 89113, 89012, 89143
16%-19%..89130, 89129, 89117, 89123, 89074, 89014
20%-25%..89031, 89032, 89128, 89107, 89118, 89142, 89011, 89015
26%-30%..89108, 89110, 89102, 89122, 89119
30%-35%..89146, 89121
36%-40%.. 89030, 89106, 89104
40%-45%..89101, 89109(strip)

If you are planning to buy properties in Las Vegas, buy in the next six months. It is a buyers market right now. The rate is still low and there are a lot of good buy. If you are a seller, wait until after summer if you can.

US Market…

The new home sales nationwide dropped 5% with a median price of $238,100, a 12% increase from last January 2005. The biggest drop in sales was a 14.9% decline in the northeast followed by 10.8% dropped in the midwest. In the south, the dropped was 10.3%. However, in the west where Las Vegas is included, the sales went up 11.3%.

The 30-year mortgage rate is now 6.26%. Many analyst expect it to rise between 6.5 % to 7.0 % by year’s end.

December 2005 and 2005 Total..

A record sale of 4,161 new home for December with a median price of $309,990, a 6.8% from last year. Without condo conversion, the median price for new construction is $345,130. This bring the 2005 total to 38,517 new home sold, a 30.7% increase from last year. On the resale, 4,234 were sold in December bring the total to 58,522 for 2005, a 8.8% decrease from last year. The median price for resale in December was $285,000. The total for 2005 resale and new is 97,039 units or 8,087 houses sold per month. The Las Vegas market is still hot!!!

"Homes are spending 39 days on the market, which defines Las Vegas as a red-hot housing market. Homes sell within 60 days in a hot market and 90 days in an average market. If homes are staying on the market longer, it’s because of -greed. That’s part of the market here". Quote from Larry Murphy, president of Saletraq, a company that specialize in tracking the Las Vegas housing market.

The cost of vacant land is now more than $600,000 per acre, 88% increased from last year. The residential development of 20-50 acres cost $890,000 per acre. The land in the strip is now over $3,000,000 per acre.