Two Las Vegas condo and hotel projects in financial straits

Home buyers and refinance hopefuls are currently struggling with a mortgage market that has retooled its guidelines several degrees harder. They aren't alone, however. The same thing is now happening to the commercial finance sector, too. Even major developers are finding it difficult to secure financing for their projects and if they find it, it comes at a cost that may be too high to make sense.

A few weeks ago it was reported that the Cosmopolitan had worked out a tentative deal with Global Hyatt Corp. and Marathon Asset Management who would recapitalize the troubled condominium and hotel undertaking on the Strip, next to the under-construction CityCenter. The details were supposed to be worked out by Thursday, but the deadline was missed and now Deutsche Bank, the main lender, has informed the principals that foreclosure papers are being filed on its $760 million loan. Please click on the link in this paragraph to read the entire article.

Las Vegas Sands has grand plans

First the rapidly-growing hotel, gaming and resort company built the Venetian at the corner of Las Vegas Boulevard, better known as the Strip, and Sands Avenue to compliment the huge convention facility Sands Expo Center. It promptly became a major hit among convention goers and up-scale visitors to town. Since the demand was there, they soon went ahead and built the luxurious Palazzo next door, opening it in January and connected it directly to the Venetian.

There is more in the pipeline, though. A piece of prime land sits right in front of the Palazzo and the owner of that wanted to put a shopping center on it and repeatedly declined to sell his prized holding, so Las Vegas Sands negotiated an airspace agreement with him that allows the construction of a 400-unit condominium tower above the street-level shops. That's a first for Las Vegas. Airspace deals and other tight building arrangements are common in New York and other large metropolitan areas, but not here. To read the entire article, please click on the link in this paragraph.

Las Vegas housing market report mixed

Southern Nevada residential real estate market is actively seeking a solid foundation to stand on. Some of its more meaningful components are either moving up a little or heading down a bit, instead of going steadily in either direction. The positive thing is that the shifts now are minor which usually indicates the correction here is nearing the end of its cycle.

Local housing experts are loudly cheering the 11.7% increase in sales of single-family houses in February, as was reported by GLVAR, the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors. The total came to 1,098 sales. A considerable 41.5% of the transactions were short sales, where the property is bought for below its mortgage balance, or lender-owned homes banks unloaded at discounted prices. Regardless, the main point is that the buyer appears again to be showing some confidence in the market and is willing to act on the opportunities out there. To read the entire article please click on the link in this paragraph.

The picture above is from UNLV campus in 1969. Observe the vacant land all around.

Summerlin introduces creative real estate marketing

Like so many other housing markets across the country Las Vegas, too, is feeling the adverse effects of tightening mortgage guidelines, slumping home values and skittish buyers. It's a major task to sell a property under these testing circumstances.

Real estate agents, FSBOs, banks, whoever is selling, have burned the midnight oil in a quest to discover marketing tools that work. Wide screen TVs have been offered as enticements, vacation packages, cars etc., they've all been put into action. House auctions became popular a while back, although the results with them have been mixed.

One of the latest innovations in Las Vegas is the Foreclosure Express, simply an airport shuttle bus with appropriate signage that seats 24 passengers. It's run by a local agent team that for now takes buyer candidates out to tour foreclosed homes in Summerlin. The concept has been successful enough that the plan is to expand its reach across town to Green Valley, Henderson and North Las Vegas. Selling a house is all about exposure and this ought to help.

The reaction in Summerlin neighborhoods the bus has so far visited has been lukewarm at best. Homeowners obviously feel that this approach will deflate their property values even more. It certainly might in the short term. But the benefits of moving vacant foreclosed houses as quickly as possible seem to outweigh the price decrease. The distressed homes become eyesores for lack of maintenance, vandalism is always a threat and the area's property taxes are likely to increase because foreclosed homes drop out of the collection roster, to mention a few of the drawbacks.

In addition, Southern Nevada is amidst a painful residential real estate correction and the sooner it runs its course, the faster the eventual recovery can begin. That will benefit in the long run every homeowner in town.

Las Vegas condos land on non-permissible list

When the residential real estate market turns soft, mortgage lenders typically are the first ones to take notice and begin studying where their exposure can get them in trouble. Countless banks operating in Las Vegas have already in their own way reacted to the slowdown here and more are certainly doing so as the situation warrants.

BankUnited from Florida has paid particular attention to the condominium market and has decided to cease underwriting mortgages on 191 projects nationwide, 14 of which are here in Southern Nevada. The bank is hardly an household name to many in the business, but its action underlines the present difficulties the sector is experiencing. Most of the black-listed condos are in the Miami area. To read the entire article, please click on the link in this paragraph.