Las Vegas Sun

November 15, 2009

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News mixed on new home sales

Friday, Nov. 30, 2001 | 10:30 a.m.

Low mortgage interest rates helped boost new home sales in October in the Las Vegas area to 2,227 from 1,612 in the same period last year. But new home permits in October dropped 18 percent to 1,452 from last October, according to a local real estate analyst.

"It's a mixed bag of signals," said Dennis Smith, president of Home Builders Research Inc. "October's home sales are better because of low interest rates and because a lot of deeds were finally recorded for homes that were in the process of being built prior to Sept. 11."

"But the drop in October's permits reflect a softening in consumer demand and the attitude of many lenders who have tightened qualification requirements to home buyers and builders because of uncertainty in the national economy," he said. "Historically, the fourth-quarter is also low period for permits because of the holiday season."

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