Facebook
Fark
Digg
Reddit
StumbleReal estate expert sees recovery in LV market
Fri, May 14, 2010 (3 a.m.)
Richard Lee
Local homebuilder American West unveiled its latest collection — American West Reserve at Coronado Ranch — at a May 6 grand opening preview event that included a presentation by Las Vegas real estate authority Richard Lee, who said a turnaround is coming in the local market.
Lee isn’t predicting exactly when the market will turn around, but he is getting more optimistic.
“If there’s one point I want to get across, it’s that it’s time to get ready for recovery,” said Lee, vice president of the Nevada division and director of public relations for First American Title Insurance Co. “But it’s do-over time — time for a second chance. The old Vegas formula just doesn’t work anymore.”
In a subsequent interview, Lee went on to say, “(The American West event) was the first really positive presentation I have had in two years, and I felt better about the momentum than I have in two years. I felt really excited again, and it was refreshing.”
“With the old format, you built hotel rooms, which created jobs and the migration of people and a demand for housing, which caused retail. And it mushroomed from there, and that’s what we’ve been living off of,” he said. “The homebuilding industry has historically been an economic leader in bringing our nation out of a recession, but it’s not happening so much this time.
“Because there’s so much excess supply, we can’t build our way out of the recession. So we need to really figure out how to get lean and mean and more efficient. Some models say that for every boom, there’s a bust, but then there is always some kind of recovery, because the human spirit will make sure there is.
“I think people are tired of hiding in the hole waiting for something to happen. It’s time to take it to the next level.”
More than 300 Southern Nevada real estate agents turned out to tour the models in the Reserve collection, which opened to the public May 8 near Rainbow Boulevard and Wigwam Avenue. American West’s first community to debut this year, the Reserve features three two-story floor plans ranging in size from 2,492 square feet to 3,019 square feet. Four- and five-bedroom homes are available, with prices starting at $254,500.
NV Energy representatives were on hand at the Realtors’ preview reception to discuss the Energy Plus residential rating system that the homes achieved.
“The event was very successful,” said Bonnie Hernandez, American West’s executive director of marketing. “We had over 300 Realtors attend and the response was outstanding. They loved the floor plans, the architectural attention to detail and, of course, the prices.’’
Realtors noted the turnout may be a sign that the local residential market is poised to emerge from its slump.
“Of course, everybody is familiar with American West Homes, but over the last few years, this is the largest open-house event held by any company that I’ve seen,” said Realtor Asa Lawson, a certified distressed property expert with Realty One Group, adding that he is cautiously optimistic about recovery. “It’s shown signs of improvement. The number of homes listed in the (Multiple Listing Service) is about half the amount it was a year ago, so the inventory is dropping, which is good. I work with a lot of buyers and they’re just waiting until it bottoms out, and I think we’re scraping the bottom right now. Hopefully, it’s all uphill from here.”
Brad Snyder, a Realtor with Zip Realty, expressed a similar sentiment.
“Agents are tired of short sales and foreclosures, and looking to new-home alternatives is definitely a positive sign,” Snyder said. “I was also very surprised by the turnout. It was the most impressive grand opening I’ve seen in quite awhile. American West put on a good show and had a good draw. They also brought in Richard Lee, who we all know in the industry. He’s always worth listening to, and his insights are usually pretty dead-on.”
Danielle Birkin is a freelance writer and a regular contributor to In Business Las Vegas.
Discussion: 11 comments so far…
Comments are moderated by Las Vegas Sun editors. Our goal is not to limit the discussion, but rather to elevate it. Comments should be relevant and contain no abusive language. Comments that are off-topic, vulgar, profane or include personal attacks will be removed. Full comments policy. Additionally, we now display comments from trusted commenters by default. Those wishing to become a trusted commenter need to verify their identity or sign in with Facebook Connect to tie their Facebook account to their Las Vegas Sun account. For more on this change, read our story about how it works and why we did it.
Only trusted comments are displayed on this page. Untrusted comments have expired from this story.
No trusted comments have been posted.
Post a comment
Most Popular
- Viewed
- Discussed
- E-mailed
- Superstar Whitney Houston dies at 48
- Two dead after accident in downtown Las Vegas
- UNLV can move forward without the burden of losing streak to San Diego State
- A wife’s wisdom shows birth control issue needn’t be divisive
- Vegas oddsmaker expects Adele to have a great night at Grammys
- UNLV makes key plays down stretch to hold off San Diego State 65-63
- Hope and change and … what’s missing?
- Surprise links, negotiated deals addressed by commissioners
- Mitt Romney wins Maine caucuses, CPAC straw poll
- New York mayor has the right idea
Blogs
The Kats Report
Color from scene at Thomas & Mack: We have a wire job! Rebels win, and Louie Armstrong sings!
South Point owner Michael Gaughan's take on 'Vegas Stripped': 'I'll give it an 8' (4 Comments)
Author relishes writing the life story of ‘larger-than-life’ Oscar Goodman (3 Comments)
Elsewhere
Landowner: All roads could lead to Uxbridge casino
Revel reveals smoke-free casino opening
Cirque du Soleil show in Sands China casino to close this month
Meet the woman behind Sheldon Adelson
The Sun
Locally owned and independent for more than 50 years.
REALLY
IT BECause realtor don't make money on foreclosure and short sale
When will we all finally stop listening to realtors? They like to call themselves professionals but all they are trained to do is smile and get you to sign papers that even they don't know what they mean. They have no training other than how to close a sale and offer nothing when it comes to real knowledge about the market, design, construction, etc.
We all need to stop believing this nonsense that 1) you need a realtor to buy or sell a house and 2)NEVER, I repeat, NEVER are they worth the absurd commissions they receive.
Just because the local Las Vegas real estate agent said so, does not make it so. Just like the politicians, Real Estate agents and Brokers are at the bottom of the honesty and integrity list. Once again, Mr. Lee is showing us He is out of touch with the working people who will drive the Las Vegas ecomony. Not because you said so, the recovery will start when "We" said so, not you Real Estate greedy agents and broker.
To say the Real Estate agents are trying of Short Sales and Foreclosure Sale smacks of Elitism and self-serving. Integrity is non-existing in the Las Vegas Real Estate profession. (just remove the word "Profession".
$255k base for 2500 square feet near Rainbow and Wigwam. good luck. as far as realtors go, it's just like any other industry, some of them work hard and deserve success and some don't.
How does one come to the conclusion that the solution for all this excess inventory of single family homes in the Greater Las Vegas area is to BUILD MORE HOMES?!!
Clark County, Henderson, Las Vegas, North Las Vegas, STOP building more homes.
Put a moratorium on specualtive building permits NOW!!!!
They (the ones who profit from new home building) will all whine for a short time until they see that property values will stabilize and maybe even rise.
actually
the UK and Europe issues are about to send USA back into recession, I doubt any recovery will be real for at least another 10 years of sluggish growth and recessions.
Really, and I guess he thinks Harry Reid is a shoe in to be re-elected. The only thing worst than a realtor, is a builder. "He is not predicting when the turnaround will come" what a moron. I predict the Earth will come to a end, but I don't know when! Who the hell needs more spec. houses?
WHAT AN IDIOT---this is like the information minister for iraq during the invasion telling everyone they had repelled the invaders. This market is dead and all the 5/1 adjustables are coming onto the foreclosure scene--the number is huge in las vegas--2005/06 "investors". I work with several "investors" who are stuck big in these 5/1 loans and are bailing on these properties big time. This next flood of foreclosures I think will bring the next leg down in a decimated market, and finally bring on the bottom. Im calling 2011/2012 the bottom--probably.
Dang, why won't anyone ever listen to me. I have said it before and I will say it again, home prices will continue to fall until the average joe blow can afford to buy a house. In the past, the average joe blow could afford the high prices because of easy to get mortgages. Not so, today. The combination of high unemployment and hard to get credit makes this impossible. Look for prices to continue to slowly but steadily fall until they are 20 to 30 per cent of what they are today.
stock market down 326 - guess I'll buy a house...