Las Vegas real estate numbers show small improvements in September

Southern Nevada - accommodating communities like Anthem, Summerlin, Henderson, Mountains Edge, North Las Vegas, Southern Highlands and Pahrump - resale housing segment took a cautious step forward in September, after going the other way in August. A curious trend might be developing, actually so predicted by some industry experts, where the real estate market will find the bottom and then will bounce along there for some time. Despite very attractive mortgage money and truly appealing home prices that may be all it can do for now, as the economy remains weak and unemployment is pushing deeper into in double digits.

For September there were 3,358 single-family residences sold, so reported by GLVAR, the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors. That amounts to a nice 4% improvement from August and a solid 20.7% jump from the same month last year. The buyer base is rather narrow, though. It's dominated pretty much by the first-time homeowner and the investor, both of whom aim at the lower end of the price scale.

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Mountain's Edge in Las Vegas crowned as best-selling master-planned community

Who would have thought such a list even existed in this housing market? Especially since the new home segment is having major trouble in moving inventory almost everywhere, including here in Southern Nevada. But it’s true. Robert Charles Lesser & Co., a real estate advisory firm, is behind the study that keeps track of home sales in master-planned communities nationwide and then ranks them.

Mountain’s Edge claimed the top spot on the list with 879 houses sold in 2008, although overall sales there went down by 49%. It’s somewhat surprising that even that many properties were closed there considering all the overbuilding Las Vegas has seen and the turmoil in the mortgage and financial industries. Their incentives must’ve worked because new homes prices generally aren’t competitive with the resale sector.

The number two slot went to Cinco Ranch in Houston, number three to The Woodlands in Houston and number four to Providence, also located in Las Vegas. Notable here is that both Mountain’s Edge and Providence are developed by Focus Property Group, a major builder in the area. Despite being reasonably successful with these two projects Focus has also suffered setbacks in a couple of other local undertakings. But who hasn’t in this distressed market.

Usually the perennial heavyweight on this list has been Summerlin located here in Las Vegas. In fact, it has occupied the very peak of it for years on end and now, surprisingly, it can’t be found on it at all. Because The Howard Hughes Corp., Summerlin’s developer, failed to send in its sales figures. The list creator should consider other factors besides sales to arrive at its conclusions, argues the company. That’s why. Well, maybe they just couldn’t stomach being beaten by a local competitor this time around.

Anyway, Mountain’s Edge, way to go in a tough market.