townhouse: Developers already planning future projects in Southern Nevada - 11/08/08 10:36 PM
Las Vegas real estate is in a slump, a description that is widely accepted throughout the community. It started with the residential sector and has now spread over to the commercial and resort sides as well. There are some cautious signs that the housing market is beginning to make some noise as resales, specifically in the lower end of the price scale, are attracting homeowner-candidates and long-term investors. To some it's an early indication that a turnaround is already visible on the horizon and they are busy drafting plans for future developments.
GSG Development is one of them, a valley firm … (2 comments)

townhouse: Las Vegas high-end real estate market inviting, explains The Robb Report - 09/30/08 09:02 PM
It is really nice to hear upbeat news for a change. The attention lately in Southern Nevada has been trained on the mortgage industry struggling with a load of foreclosures and the housing market trying hard to get its supply and demand in balance that would then stop prices from sliding any further. Those are generally the big issues of the day in the valley that people talk about.
But bring in The Robb Report Vacation Homes and change the topic, at least for a while. The magazine conducted hours of research on over 50 international destinations in an effort to … (10 comments)

townhouse: Las Vegas new home sales now follow a more stable pattern - 07/19/08 09:55 PM
Since last summer new home sales have been gradually declining in the valley and evidently reached the bottom of the cycle around January of this year. Since then the numbers have been pretty even, but by no means something to write home about. Yet, in the absence of losing any more ground for several months the market is obviously trying to turn this thing around and get going again.
According to Home Builders Research, a Southern Nevada industry expert, a low total of 777 spanking-new single-family houses were closed in June and when that is compared to the record 3,233 sold in … (6 comments)

townhouse: Long-term U.S. housing forecast positive - 06/25/08 12:13 AM
Most of the U.S. is still mired in a real estate slump, in a deep one in some areas and in a little shallower one in others. Las Vegas probably belongs to the deeper customer type, although it's now trying to lift itself off the gutter. Sales numbers here are up and price declines are stabilizing which make for the good news. Inventories do remain too high, though, accounting for the bad news. Anyway, that's the less-than-rosy picture in the summer of 2008.
Let's look ahead to the next decade, from 2010 to 2020, and see what might happen then with … (26 comments)

townhouse: Fannie Mae to drop previous guideline - 05/18/08 12:06 PM
 Fannie Mae is one of the two gigantic GSEs, or Government Sponsored Enterprises, that helps the nation's housing business by buying mortgages on the secondary market. By doing so it adds liquidity to the banking system and enables lenders to make more home loans. The guidelines for the loans it purchases are crucial to the process.
 As the real estate market sailed arms swinging into rough seas, Fannie Mae started tightening the criteria for the conforming loans it would acquire for its huge portfolio. Just like private banks were doing, simply to deal responsibly with the increased risk.
 One of the … (12 comments)

townhouse: Las Vegas ski resort to expand - 02/13/08 05:39 PM
 
It sounds a little far-fetched to have skiing in Las Vegas, the entertainment Mecca in the desert, yet the notion actually is very real. It takes less than an hour from the Strip by any car to get to Lee Canyon in Mount Charleston and the white slopes are right there for the taking. Las Vegas Ski and Snowboard Resort is rather small by most measures, but not for very long it seems.
The resort's owners, Tomas & Mack Co. and Powdr Corp. of Park City, Utah, just presented an improvement plan to the U.S. Forest Service, the government entity that has … (16 comments)

townhouse: Lake Las Vegas project has a new owner - 01/12/08 01:09 PM
 
Transcontinental Corp. began developing the 3,592-acre Lake Las Vegas site near Henderson in 1990 and was building upscale houses, condominiums and townhouses along the slopes of the man-made lake. Besides homes, the project also includes three luxury resorts, the MonteLago Casino and an Italian-themed village.
The soft real estate market in Southern Nevada ultimately forced last fall the ambitious developer to default on a large loan. The site has about 400 acres of raw land left and when homebuilders scheduled to develop the land missed the required option payments, the default became imminent. The demand for new housing at that juncture … (7 comments)

townhouse: Las Vegas single-family house inventory drops again - 01/11/08 08:44 PM
For the local real estate market the new years starts with some rare positive news. The Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors, or GLVAR, released its December statistics and they show that the single-family house inventory in the MLS decreased to 22,005, a drop of 1,489 units from November.
Some may argue that December is traditionally slow, which it is, yet the inventory has been slowly sliding since August and that is significant. It's a four-month trend that cannot be ignored. It just might indicate that the housing sector is cautiously heading toward a working balance between supply and demand that eventually … (8 comments)

townhouse: Colliers International opens Las Vegas office - 11/30/07 06:41 PM
 
Many might wonder if now is the best time to open another residential real estate office here when the market is clearly having its problems. There is an abundant oversupply of houses, condominiums and townhouses for sale, many of which are vacant, and they are moving slowly despite lower prices. But there is a narrow sector in it that is doing quite well. And that is the luxury segment that seems to be immune to the shifts in the overall marketplace. At least here in Southern Nevada it is.
As a proof of that is the single-family house that sold in July … (2 comments)

townhouse: Carbon neutral buildings on the way - 05/14/07 01:28 PM
Another impressive step has been taken here in U.S. to curb global warming. A group of building design organizations sat down recently to sign a document outlining an ambitious program that leads to the future construction of structures that use considerably less energy, decrease greenhouse gas emissions and contain  living and work space that is healthy and comfortable.
The organizations involved in this great effort are the American Institute of Architects, the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Architecture 2030, the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America, the U.S. Green Building Council and the U.S. Department of Energy. All key players in the … (6 comments)

townhouse: Housing sector key in energy conservation. - 04/25/07 04:46 PM
UNEP, United Nations Environment Program, sponsors the Sustainable Building and Construction Initiative, or SBCI, that recently issued an eye-opening report about global warming and what role the building industry plays in it. The sector alone accounts for 30-40% of global energy use, a significant amount. It should also be mentioned that the U.S. Green Building Council is a strong supporter of SBCI, so we're closely working with the international community to address the deteriorating situation.
Most energy is consumed during the use of the structures, that is houses, condominium towers, townhouses, office buildings, plants, for cooling, heating, ventilation, lighting and some other applications, and not during … (9 comments)