Buck Wargo

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Las Vegas home prices, sales slip in January: Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2010; Home prices in Southern Nevada dipped slightly in January as investors purchased an even greater percentage of homes, according to statistics released this morning by the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors.
Index shows job losses beginning to ease in Las Vegas: Friday, Feb. 5, 2010; An index that measures the Las Vegas economy through the spring edged up slightly in January, a reflection that job losses are starting to moderate, according to the Center for Business and Economic Research at UNLV. The index measures economic data in November and is a six-month forecast through May 1.
World Market Center blazes trail for LV diversification: Friday, Feb. 5, 2010; During Preview Las Vegas, the World Market Center was touted as an example of Southern Nevada economic diversification.
Molasky center a pioneer among LEED projects: Friday, Feb. 5, 2010; More than two years after his company opened the Molasky Corporate Center — the pioneer high-end green development in the valley — Richard Worthington said the concept is growing in popularity and downtown Las Vegas will come to symbolize it.
Foreclosures hampering green homes: Contractors realize extra features not adding to appraised values; Friday, Feb. 5, 2010; Foreclosures that are depressing home values could temporarily slow the incorporation of green features into homes, a consultant to the homebuilding industry said.
Banks lament loss of interest income: Friday, Feb. 5, 2010; Community and regional banks, facing the recession and decline in interest revenue, are getting more aggressive on business loans in Las Vegas.
CityCenter condos may outperform market: Friday, Feb. 5, 2010; CityCenter is starting to finalize sales of condominiums, which coincides with already difficult conditions in the Las Vegas high-rise condo market, analysts said.
Analyst: Las Vegas home prices will increase 3 percent this year: Thursday, Feb. 4, 2010; A Las Vegas housing analyst said today he expects sales of existing homes in 2010 to mirror those in 2009 and predicts prices will increase by more than 3 percent by the end of the year. Dennis Smith, the president of Home Builders Research, said in a seminar held over the Web that existing home prices will rise by $4,000, or 3.3 percent, from $123,000 at the end of 2009 to $127,000 by the end of 2010. Prices have fallen nearly 60 percent from the peak of the market.
Report: High-rise condos saw biggest drop in value last year: Thursday, Feb. 4, 2010; High-rise condominiums depreciated at the fastest rate in 2009, at 44 percent, while the average price decline for residential real estate fell 23 percent, according to a report from SalesTraq.
Average apartment rental rate drops to four-year low: Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2010; The average rents requested by Las Vegas apartment complexes in the fourth quarter fell by $71 a month to a four-year low, a research firm reported.
Investors, cash buyers become larger part of housing market: Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2010; Sales of new and existing homes priced below $200,000 comprised 77 percent of transactions in Las Vegas in December as investors remain an integral part of the market, a real estate information firm reported.
Retired justice Maupin joins law firm: Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2010; Retired Nevada Supreme Court Justice A. William Maupin has joined the law firm of Lionel Sawyer & Collins.
Economists have a dimmer view of local housing market: Friday, Jan. 29, 2010; Leave it to economists and housing analysts outside the Las Vegas market to put a damper on predictions that the valley’s market will be stable in 2010.
Short sales soar while foreclosure sales slacken: Friday, Jan. 29, 2010; Las Vegas and the state may be changing from the nation’s foreclosure capital to a housing market dominated by short sales.
Q&A: Ken Lowman, broker-owner, Luxury Homes of Las Vegas: Friday, Jan. 29, 2010; Ken Lowman knows how to engineer his way around a problem. The 45-year-old broker-owner of Luxury Homes of Las Vegas, an electrical engineering graduate from Oregon State University, became interested in real estate while in Southern California.
Las Vegas leads nation in foreclosures for 2009: Nevada has led nation in rate of foreclosure filings since 2007, RealtyTrac says; Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2010; Las Vegas led the nation in foreclosure filings in 2009, according to a California firm that tracks the housing market.
Las Vegas has routinely ranked in the top five metropolitan areas in foreclosures on a monthly basis, but this is the first time it had secured the top spot for a whole year.
Sam Boyd among inductees into Business Hall of Fame: Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2010; Boyd Gaming patriarch and community booster Sam Boyd headlines a list of inductees to the 2010 class of the Nevada Business Hall of Fame.
Michael Jackson's former Las Vegas home fetches $3.1 million: Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2010; A 16,400-square-foot home where Michael Jackson resided for six months in late 2007 and early 2008 has sold for $3.1 million. Jackson rented the home at 2785 S. Monte Cristo, which is southeast of the intersection of Buffalo Drive and Sahara Avenue. The home was ultimately taken back by the lender, Eastern Savings Bank, in lieu of it going through foreclosure with the previous owner, said Carolyn Mullany, a Realtor with Coldwell Banker Premier.
Foreclosures hit ZIP code 89031 the hardest: Friday, Jan. 22, 2010; The North Las Vegas ZIP code that includes the Eldorado residential development led the valley in foreclosures in 2009, according to statistics released by SalesTraq.
Galleria Interchange opens door to future development: Friday, Jan. 22, 2010; The opening of the Galleria Interchange on the I-515 in late 2009 is expected to spur economic development in Henderson.
Lot buys may signal rebound: Friday, Jan. 22, 2010; The new home market in Las Vegas is two years away from recovery, and builders are preparing for it by buying finished lots, according to a California consulting firm.
Ashley Furniture to expand in Vegas: Retailer to open store at vacated Levitz site; Friday, Jan. 22, 2010; The licensee of two Ashley Furniture stores in Las Vegas is adding a third in the midst of the recession.
Minority firms benefit from CityCenter experience: Friday, Jan. 22, 2010; Minority- and women-owned construction companies are sad to see work winding down at CityCenter, but they haven’t forgotten the benefits they reaped from the project and hope to build on that in the future.
Renowned author to headline chamber's Preview: Friday, Jan. 22, 2010; A New York Times best-selling author will headline the 2010 Preview Las Vegas business forecast Jan. 28 at UNLV’s Cox Pavilion.
Housing recovery at least a year away, analysts say: One expert says a wave of 'strategic defaults' a real possibility; Thursday, Jan. 21, 2010; Three of Las Vegas’ leading housing analysts said they expect 2010 to mirror 2009 for home sales. They predict prices will remain stable and suggested any recovery won’t come until 2011 at the earliest and most likely later.
Tanning salon owners: Please drop the skin tax: Thursday, Jan. 21, 2010; Even though it is one of the nation’s sunniest places, the Las Vegas Valley is home to at least 86 tanning salons, according to the most recent phone book. Celebrities and tourists alike go for quick brownings before strutting their stuff in Strip nightclubs, and the valley’s many strippers frequent the salons, as do casino cocktail waitresses who feel like being tan makes them more attractive, which in turn helps them earn more tips.
Economists predict more struggles for Las Vegas housing market: Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2010; The Las Vegas housing market will continue to struggle in 2010 as it faces more price declines and a growing number of foreclosures, economists said Tuesday.
Report: Real estate rebound seen as 2009 came to end: Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2010; Existing home sales in Las Vegas rose 57 percent in 2009, but builders sold fewer than half as many homes compared to 2008, according to statistics released Tuesday.
SalesTraq reported that that demand for existing homes remained strong in December with the 4,502 sales the third highest-selling month in 2009, pushing the annual total to 48,075 – the third highest in the valley’s history. Median prices fell by $5,000 in December to $120,000.
Leaders get call to diversify economy: Southern Nevada leaders know the economy here can no longer rely on gaming, growth and tourism, but pursuing options is costly proposition.; Monday, Jan. 18, 2010; In trying to hash out the lessons learned from the collapse of the economy, 70 of Southern Nevada’s business leaders, academics and politicians returned to a suggestion that has been around for years: Diversify the local economy.
Retail market struggles as vacancies inch upward: Friday, Jan. 15, 2010; Two brokerage firms and a consultant said the retail vacancy rate in Las Vegas rose in the fourth quarter.
Small construction firms singled out in health care bill: Friday, Jan. 15, 2010; The health care legislation making its way through Congress has caught the attention of Las Vegas’s small contracting companies, which are worried changes may put them out of business.
Distressed properties a blight on office sector: Friday, Jan. 15, 2010; A growing number of single-story office buildings constructed in the past two years are without tenants and facing foreclosure, according to Colliers International.
LV economic foundations 'cracked,' report says: Panel: Diversification, higher quality workforce needed; Friday, Jan. 15, 2010; A group of business leaders, academics and politicians doubts there will be a quick recovery for Las Vegas’s economy and suggested the future won’t be bright for Southern Nevada unless a greater emphasis is placed on diversification.
Centerpiece house for builders' conference a no-show: Friday, Jan. 15, 2010; A Las Vegas house has come to epitomize the struggles of the homebuilding industry.
Industrial vacancy rate tops 15 percent: Friday, Jan. 15, 2010; The high unemployment rate and downturn in the construction industry is taking a toll on the industrial-building market.
Q&A: Rick Shelton, president of Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors: Friday, Jan. 15, 2010; Rick Shelton once dreamed of owning an auto dealership.
Nevada records nation's highest foreclosure rate in 2009: Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2010; More than 10 percent of Nevada’s homes received at least one foreclosure filing in 2009, keeping the state in its No. 1 ranking for the nation for the third consecutive year, according to statistics released by a foreclosure-tracking firm.
Home sales up 64 percent last year in Las Vegas: Despite second-highest number on record, officials say downturn is far from over; Friday, Jan. 8, 2010; The Southern Nevada housing market showed signs of recovery in 2009 by recording the second-highest number of home sales in the region’s history. The 46,879 sales of single-family homes, condos and townhomes tops 28,618 in 2008.
Condo woes link LV, Miami: Friday, Jan. 8, 2010; Simply blame it on Miami. That was the essence of a Miami Herald article last week comparing the overbuilt South Florida and Las Vegas condominium markets and trying to ascertain which will recover first.
Q&A: Brad Schnepf: President, Marnell Properties; Friday, Jan. 8, 2010; Sometimes what you do in life is in your genes, Brad Schnepf says.
Las Vegas hopes for home run with sports complex: Friday, Jan. 8, 2010; Las Vegas will open its $28.5 million Big League Dreams softball and baseball complex Jan. 16 at the renovated Freedom Park.
Unhurt by downturn, high-end retailer Hermes sees growth: French retailer opening new store this month at CityCenter's Crystals; Thursday, Jan. 7, 2010; The country is emerging from its worst economic downturn since the 1930s and Las Vegas remains mired in a recession, but a high-end French retailer hasn’t felt that impact along the Strip and is even eyeing expansion plans for the market.
For businesses, economy brings sobering realities: Meltdown has forced many to learn smarter practices; Monday, Jan. 4, 2010; Having endured the brutal recession of 2009, Las Vegas businesses have learned a thing or two. Companies have learned how to manage hiring practices and determine how many people they need to do certain jobs.
New-home prices drop as number of sales rises: Friday, Jan. 1, 2010; The median price of new homes sold in November in the Las Vegas area dropped under $200,000 for the first time in six years and builders sold the largest number this year, a local research firm reported.
Growth of distressed commercial properties slows, hits $17.6 billion: Friday, Jan. 1, 2010; The number of commercial properties in distress in the Las Vegas area grew in the fourth quarter — but at a slower pace.
Sluggish economy still hurting retail sales: Friday, Jan. 1, 2010; High unemployment and cautious consumer spending are expected to dampen retail sales in Las Vegas once the holiday counts are completed at the end of January, retail analysts said.
Rust Belt, Las Vegas comparison premature — even with gaming in peril: Friday, Jan. 1, 2010; Las Vegas may have more in common with Pittsburgh and Detroit than many people realize, says Mary Riddel, a UNLV economist and the interim director of the Center for Business and Economic Research.
Survey: Business leaders have hope for national economy, little for LV: Friday, Jan. 1, 2010; Southern Nevada business leaders remain pessimistic about the short-term outlook for Las Vegas’ economy and last month suggested any recovery will take a long time.
Las Vegas firms learning from recession: Friday, Jan. 1, 2010; Having endured the brutal economic downturn of 2009, Las Vegas businesses have learned a thing or two from the continuing recession.
Analyst sees signs of improvement in economy: Friday, Jan. 1, 2010; Although the Las Vegas economy is mired in a deep recession, a local analyst has pointed to signs of improvement and some hope on the horizon.