Tax break for Nevada home buyers?

It could soon become reality. The catch is you have to buy an energy-efficient house to qualify. Lawmakers in Carson City are presently debating a bill that would encourage energy conservation in our fast-growing state that is importing energy now.

The new law would offer property tax breaks of up to 50% for home buyers who acquire houses that meet national green building criteria. They could add up to $30,000 per property over a 10-year period. That's real savings. Builders specializing in energy-efficient homes would then have an easier time competing with traditional builders, because putting up an energy-efficient house can cost 25% more. The bill also has additional conservation proposals. A far-reaching agenda that would benefit the entire state.

Subprime mortgage predicament.

How serious is it? It might be less of a problem than previously believed. The media and some interest groups certainly have caused a major racket about it, so much in fact that the politicos nowadays are holding hearings in Washington to earn points for their careers.

A Federal Reserve Governor estimates that ARMs, the gist of the controversy, make up only about 8% of the entire home loan market. Relatively small number. Here's a bigger number. In some calculations the lenders could suffer $300 billion or more in losses. But, that's minor when we remember that the recent tech bust ate up around $9 trillion in corporate equity. So, is it more hype than anything else?

Soft housing lifts unemployment in Clark County.

This part of the big picture is often overlooked while all the talk is about the housing bubble and will it burst. How much air is it going to let out should it burst? And how bad is the subprime lender saga going to get and who is to blame for it?

The Nevada Department of Employment, Training & Rehabilitation reports that statewide unemployment rises a half a point to 4.3% in February from a year ago. The slowdown in the residential real estate market is playing a major role in the increase. It adds that there was a 50% jump in construction-related claims. Most of the pain is felt here in Clark County, the population mecca of the state.

What Las Vegas housing supply crisis?

A recent newspaper article points out that land is in short supply in the valley for residential development. Because of that, BLM ought to auction off more of it. It seems to be a public relations stunt put together by the home building community, is the counter argument. There is plenty of land available for housing construction.

After all, Summerlin master-planned community has about 100,000 residents today and when completed somewhere around 2025, it's expected to double that number. The Park Highlands project is still to commence building on 2,700 acres for some 50,000 homeowners. There are other projects to support the counter argument. And what about the over 20,000 MLS listings looking for qualified buyers? Interesting discussion.

Allure condominiums on schedule.

Lots of talk has lately centered on high-rise condo developments enmeshed in trouble in Las Vegas, basically not even getting off the ground. To balance that notion out, there are many luxury projects that are moving ahead as planned. Allure on Sahara Avenue is one of them.

Units in the 41-story tower range from 671 sq. ft. to 4,400 sq. ft., coming in a studio size to a three-bedroom size. When finished in September, the building holds 428 homes and prices start from the mid-$500,000s. A partner in the joint venture has recently informed that a second, taller tower is in the planning stages. That's confidence. The developer with prior experience in condo construction, solid financial resources and vast marketing expertise can make it work even in this market.

Las Vegas real estate getting pricier.

The stats are in for February. They're mixed, just like in the past several months. The median price of a new home rises 2.3% to $315,965. The numbers for an existing house are similar, up 2.4% to $289,000. The seller is reluctant to drop the price even when it means a longer wait to achieve a sale.

On the other hand, new home sales are way down from the same month a year ago. And the story mirrors that on the resale side, sales are down 27% from last year. The market remains soft. MLS shows over 21,000 listings in February, close to a 50% climb from 12 months ago. For those thinking about buying, you're calling the shots.

Harmon corridor the next big magnet in Vegas?

A few years ago the Harmon corridor property owners enthralled local real estate observers and the media with grand plans for mixed-use developments that included thousands of condos. Many of those plans are still just plans. The condominium market turned soft and construction costs zoomed through the roof, forcing several players to delay or cancel.

Now the buzz is back. The prediction is that the housing market will rebound soon and the Harmon corridor remains very suitable for residential development. The emphasis, though, is on the word strong-branded. The days when anyone could cruise into town, crank up an office and sell out a building in a matter of days are gone.

The Planet Hollywood Towers by Westgate is a good example of a strong brand behind a project. It broke ground in January and will have 2,500 condominiums and time-share units when completed.

Las Vegas home builders earn awards.

Nevada Energy Star Partners is an alliance of home builders, consultants, developers and utility companies that joined the Energy Star program in 2000. It's run and promoted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency together with U.S. Department of Energy. Its mission is in protecting our environment through energy efficiency, very basic and something that everyone today should embrace.

From the total membership in Nevada 28 are residential builders and developers. Those operating in the Las Vegas valley have made great progress in educating the home buyer about the value and benefits of saving energy. At a ceremony in Washington they'll be given the 2007 Energy Star Sustained Excellence Award. Congratulations. Let's all support the initiative.

Who drives Vegas high-rise condo market?

Second-home owners and investors control about 60-75% of the high-rise condominium market here, estimates a local analyst. Some locals in the industry worry that investors can generate an oversupply of resale inventory, similar to the one they did in the single-family segment and the results of that we already know. Not a pretty sight.

Developers are taking steps to discourage speculators. One requires that a buyer puts down 30% and closes escrow. There are other ways to control flippers. At last reason takes over and developers are working to curb the speculator appetites that can ruin markets for everyone else. What's your view on this?

Las Vegas mortgage foreclosures up.

Nevada moves ahead of Colorado as the state with the highest home loan foreclosure rate in January, reports RealtyTrac. Which means southern Nevada as the population center takes the hardest hit.

One expert cites creative financing, a sizzling housing market and frenzied speculation as reasons to the current foreclosure trend. I'd emphasize that the speculation really did most of the harm, at least here. And now that the subprime lending segment seems to be in a freefall, for the time being anyway, it's going to set back the housing market's recovery period. Anything positive here? Yes, buyer's market.

High-rise condo buyer gets younger?

At least that's the experience at Turnberry, a developer of high-rise condominium communities in Las Vegas. According to a company executive, when they first began sales at Turnberry Place in the late 1990's, the average buyer age was 62. At Turnberry Towers today the average age is in the 40s. Why is that?

For starters, the units at Turnberry Towers are smaller, and probably also more affordable, catering to a younger, second-home market. As the executive explains further, people are planning for their future a bit more and buying that second home might one day serve as their retirement property. What do you think?

Ranch homes back in style.

Several Las Vegas home builders are counting on the demand for a one-story courtyard house, or some call it a bungalow home. Or ranch-style. Same thing. The talk around town has lately been about high-rise condominiums and mid-rise lofts and the general affordability of housing in the valley. But this niche home design is for real.

Some of the communities offering ranch homes are Avellino, Flagstone Ranch and Yellowstone. Prices are suprisingly decent, starting as low as mid-$300,000s. So, if you have an itch for Bonanza-style living, take a look.

Housing construction slows Vegas economy.

In the last twelve months local economy eases to a standstill, mainly on account of the slowdown in residential construction and related employment, comments a local economist. The Southern Nevada Index of Leading Economic Indicators remains flat and it is likely to continue on that track through this year.

There are signs, though, that the housing construction market is firming up, a positive note. Also, valley job growth is still very healthy, increasing at a 3.8% rate. The economy is working through the residential slump that appears to be leveling off about now and then it should be ready for another expansion that hopefully keeps its cool. Proceeds with moderation.

Vegas valley short on land for housing development.

At the current rate of building, the supply of land for residential development will dry up in about six years, concludes one study. There are nearly 36,000 acres of federal and private land available now and when the annual usage is around 5,400 acres, the numbers add up.

Where is everybody turning their eyes to? BLM is the answer. Calls are going out for the Feds to release more land to be auctioned. But BLM has its own rules and says that it won't sell any when the real estate market is soft, as it is today. As the supply dwindles, the result is that prices will soar in the near future. Isn't that what the market economy is all about? Supply and demand.

Home sales continue at a lackluster pace.

Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors, or GLVAR, communicates that existing homes listed for sale in Vegas grows again after doing much better late in 2006. The market is clearly trying to find its footing and the label soft still sticks. The townhouse and condo segment performed worse than the single-family house one. It was down 42.8% from last year, a large drop.

Is there anything positive here? I think so. Buyers are running the show now. They should go out and negotiate everything to accomplish a successful purchase. Negotiate a new set of a washer and dryer, a wide screen TV, a new car, a new pool, anything you can think of. There definitely are opportunities for the taking. Vacant property, yummy. Secondly, the median price of a single-family home edged upward to $310,000, a hike of 2.6% from January. There are some positives to chew on, aren't there?

Demand for Las Vegas land slackens.

First the buyer's market entered the residential housing sector in the valley and now it glides over to land sales. At a Bureau of Land Management, or BLM, auction only four parcels totaling 25 acres were sold this week for almost $12.5 million, or roughly $500,000 an acre. Seven parcels attracted no bids at all. This time there were fewer than 100 people in attendance while in the past these land auctions have drawn up to 2,000 people. The big developers are sitting on the sidelines and waiting for the real estate environment to stabilize.

Several buyers were expecting the prices to fall, but sellers weren't in the mood. They're still bullish on the Vegas real estate market in the long run. And they are making the right call. This is a market correction that will last another while and then values will begin rising again, perhaps at a slower pace than during the frenzied runup two years ago. What's your take on the viability of the market?

Las Vegas an opportunistic newcomer.

That's what Joel Kotkin says in his noteworthy article. Over the last decade or two cities like Vegas have generated the most new jobs and garnered steady population growth. The future of American urbanism is in the younger cities, besides Vegas there is Houston, Charlotte, Phoenix and Riverside, and the older superstar cities like Boston, Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco tend to stand still.

From the residential real estate standpoint, middle-class people can better afford to buy a house in a newcomer. In some superstar places only about 10% of households have the means to purchase a median-priced home while the national average is about 50%. No wonder the middle-class out-migration from them.

Does Chicago belong to the superstar city group? What do you think?

Affordable housing hard to find in Las Vegas.

It appears that resale houses are offered at a lower cost compared to new homes, but when you look at the price difference closer, builder incentives narrow the gap considerably. Often to a level where there is no difference. So now it becomes an issue between a mature neighborhood closer to town or a new area out in the suburbs and the pros and cons associated with each.

In this article you'll find specific neighborhoods in the valley where the price structure is affordable. It features both single-family houses and attached homes. Does this help you get started? If you have additional ideas, let me know.

Las Vegas home price report for 2006 upbeat.

There has lately been quite a bit of talk and predictions about a housing bubble here. The super-heated real estate market of yesterday had homeowners purring, then came the wall, which always follows this type of stimulation according to economic theory, and the excitement quickly turned into fears of a crash. Or something along those lines. Bad anyway.

The local economy continues to grow, though, and our population does the same and in the process prevent a steep drop in home values. Or any drop. A major correction did occur and it's healthy. More sustainable in the long haul. According to a Las Vegas real estate analyst the median existing home price actually increased 3.6% valleywide to $285,000 in 2006. Small hike, yet positive. His breakdown by ZIP code shows how some areas managed a gain and some didn't. We're still moving in the right direction.

Uptown condo project in North Las Vegas.

Condominium buildings are sprouting up like mushrooms after a rain on the south Strip and in the western and southern parts of the valley. Now North Las Vegas is getting in on the hot trend. The Uptown development will have 168 units in six three-story buildings, first of which is completed and residents are moving in. Here's the deal. Since we're talking about North Las Vegas, prices are affordable. They start at $258,000 for a two-bedroom condominium and go up to $294,000 for three bedrooms.

Home builders focus on low water-use features.

As Las Vegas keeps on growing, it's also looking far and wide for new water sources. There are designs to pipe water from counties north of here, but those counties are unhappy about that. Focus Property Group, a local home builder, is doing something about it on the conservation side. Its outdoor designs minimize yard sizes and the company installs irrigation systems that sense moisture and don't over-water. It also encourages desert landscaping by providing demonstration gardens at its developments where homeowners can get ideas and tips.

January housing market numbers unkind.

New home sales dropped to 2,052 last month in Vegas, compared to 2,815 sales in January 2006. On the bright side is the fact that the median price of these new houses climbed to $334,945, a 10.3% increase. On the resale side the news are about the same in the sales numbers, but the median price in this sector edged lower by 1.8%, to $280,000. The numbers are similar nationally. Realtor.org reports that buyers are backing off because the housing stock is out of their price range.