Southern Nevada new home sales improve some in May
Changes for the better are hard to come by for home builders in Las Vegas, as marketing their product continues to face an uphill battle. In the meantime the existing home sector is getting a lot of attention from buyers and investors thanks to the low price structure there, that being the main reason for the yawning disparity. Both are struggling equally with tight mortgage guidelines, scarce down payment accounts and the adverse effects of the high unemployment here.
The May housing report, created by Home Builders Research, does offer some hope for new homes, namely in the number of sales they generated. 378 of them were closed, which is a bit better than the April’s total of 343. In a year-to-year comparison things look awful, though, with a drop of 59%, as 921 units were sold in May of 2008. Still, currently there is gradual upward movement in sales, in slow motion to be sure, and that is as much as anyone can hope for in this recession environment.
The price structure continues to hamper the building industry in Las Vegas. With a median price of $212,900 a new home has very little appeal when the median value of an existing property is somewhere around $140,000, dragged down that far by a bunch of foreclosures and bank REOs. The gap is simply too wide to overcome, in spite of the new smell inside the model home stimulating the prospect’s nose. The powerful dollar mode seems to be easily dominating his brain function in this situation. Can't fault him for that.
The May housing report, created by Home Builders Research, does offer some hope for new homes, namely in the number of sales they generated. 378 of them were closed, which is a bit better than the April’s total of 343. In a year-to-year comparison things look awful, though, with a drop of 59%, as 921 units were sold in May of 2008. Still, currently there is gradual upward movement in sales, in slow motion to be sure, and that is as much as anyone can hope for in this recession environment.
The price structure continues to hamper the building industry in Las Vegas. With a median price of $212,900 a new home has very little appeal when the median value of an existing property is somewhere around $140,000, dragged down that far by a bunch of foreclosures and bank REOs. The gap is simply too wide to overcome, in spite of the new smell inside the model home stimulating the prospect’s nose. The powerful dollar mode seems to be easily dominating his brain function in this situation. Can't fault him for that.
Silverstone Ranch, Las Vegas, in the photo.
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