Mild slowdown possible in LV housing market

Brian Seals

Friday, April 10, 1998 | 10:48 a.m.

Las Vegas housing sales were brisk in the first quarter, but may be heading for a mild slowdown in the second and third quarters, Stephen Bottfeld of Marketing Solutions says.

Bottfeld this week released his first quarter review of the area housing market that is based on interviews conducted in March of home shoppers at various developments.

There were a record 19,839 houses constructed in 1997 and closings in the first two months of 1998 were 5 percent ahead of last year.

However, several factors could somewhat slow sales in the second and third quarters.

That could be in part because buyers are taking longer to make a decision on purchasing a house, content to rent in the meantime. About 48 percent of those in the market for a new house during the first quarter have been here more than two months. Conversely, 17.6 percent of those in the market had yet to move here.

Also, traffic, or prospective buyers, is down about 7 percent. "If traffic quality is decreasing, it means your sales staff is going to have to work harder and smarter," Bottfeld said.

Of the people in the house-buying market in the first quarter, 70 percent were married and the median age was 38.9. Family size averaged 1.88 people, though 19 percent said they planned an addition to their family. The median income was $65,114 and the median mortgage or rent people were paying was $900.

The median price of a new house in December was $133,500, a 3.8 percent increase over the previous year, according to the report.

Many buyers, 46.8 percent, want home offices in their dwellings and one in eight called that amenity "vital," according to Bottfeld. Also, 55.6 percent of those in the market have pets and 33 percent of those say that will influence what type of house they buy.

Bottfeld said "the bloom is off the rose" as far as how buyers perceive the economy and that buyer perception effects the market. Fifty-three percent of the people he interviewed expect mortgage rates to rise this year.