Las Vegas Real Estate Blog

A recent Businesweek article took a look at online real estate websites and which ones are garnering the most interest from consumers when they go online looking for real estate information.

According to April data from Hitwise, the National Association of Realtor’s website, Realtor.com has the most traffic with 8% of visitors.  With its broad selection of homes for sale located around the U.S. and its strong name recognition, this really isn’t too surprising.

Following on Realtor.com’s heels is RealtyTrac.com which is a bit of an eyebrow raiser.  After all, the site specializes in home foreclosures more than buying and selling a home.  Who knows, maybe people are looking for a bargain or they’re interested in which states are experiencing the most foreclosures.  Each vying for 2% of online visitors includes:  Yahoo, Zillow, Re/Max and Coldwell Banker.

Much has been written in the past about how the Internet is revolutionizing how buyers and sellers look for homes.  However, in this particular article, writer Chris Palmeri points out that the average amount of time a user is spending at one of these sites is only ten minutes.  This suggests that they are choosing to use the internet possibly more to just look up a particular property then they are to actually “shop” for prospective homes.

Popularity: 10%

GE recently announced the start of its Ecomagination Homebuilder Program.  This program was started in the hopes of providing comfortable, efficient homes that save homeowners’ energy costs while easing the impact on the environment. 

Homes built according to this program’s specifications will provide at least a 20% saving in household energy, water consumption and emissions versus an industry-accepted average new home.  For example, a 2,500 square-foot home built under this program’s guidelines would save the homeowner $600 to upwards of $1500 on annual utility bills versus an industry-standard average new home due to significant energy and water savings.

Also, a 2,500 square-foot house built to program specifications is designed to lower CO2 emissions by approximately 5 tons annually, which is equivalent to the CO2 emissions of driving more than 10,000 miles in an average U.S. car, or to the CO2 absorbed by 4.5 acres of trees each year.

Popularity: 10%

The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller National U.S. Home Price Index, which tracks the value of single-family housing, dropped .7% in the first quarter compared to fourth quarter of 2006.  It marks the first time in more than 15 years of positive annual growth that the index has dropped into negative territory.

While Detroit and San Diego had the largest annual declines at 8.4% and 6%, respectively, Las Vegas received the dubious honor of being one of two cities that had the sharpest drop from its peak.  Phoenix was the other.

Las Vegas, which was up 53.2% in September 2004, dropped to a year-over-year price decline of 1.6% in March.

Popularity: 10%

The Commerce Department reported this week that sales of new homes rose an astounding 16.2% in April.  This marked the largest increase in 14 years.  However, while sales were up, the average new home price had dropped 11.1% to $229,100, suggesting that home builders are attempting to move their large inventories. 

Officials also warn not to become too excited over the one month gains, particularly as many recent surveys have shown builder confidence has shrunk and subprime worries remain high.

Unit sales by region:

1. Northeast increased 43.1%
2. Midwest dropped 28.1%
3. West dropped 25.4% 
4. South dropped 3.4%

Popularity: 11%

Chances are that if you’ve looked around any new community development, you’ve probably thought the new houses looked a little large.  Well, your mind isn’t playing tricks on you.  It appears the average home is getting bigger while the family unit is growing smaller.

In 2005, one in five homes had at least four bedrooms. That’s up from one in six in 1990, despite shrinking families and increasing costs for construction and energy. According to the National Association of Home Builders, houses with five or more bedrooms were the fastest-growing type in that time.

Which states have the highest percentage of homes with at least four bedrooms?  Utah is the pack leader with over 40% of its homes fitting into that category.  It’s followed by Maryland, Virginia, Colorado and Minnesota.  Arkansas has the smallest number with only 12.6% of homes having four bedrooms or more.

Popularity: 10%

Lobbying is a multi-million dollar industry in this country.  Groups, sometimes responding to events occurring on Capitol Hill, other times attempting to influence the writing of new policy have poured millions into lobbying activities.  Normally, there is nothing illegal about this and the activities are usually highly regulated.  However, its always important to know just who the players are and how they are attempting to influence the legislative process.   

The National Association of Realtors also lobbies on behalf of its 1.3 million residential and commerical real estate agents.  According to their website, the NAR focuses on, “…working for REALTORS® to enact federal legislation intended to expand homeownership opportunities, protect consumers and provide greater access to health insurance.”

Just how active is the NAR on Capital Hill?  The Opensecrets.org website states that the NAR spent over $16.7M on lobbying activities in 2006.  Of that $520,000 was paid for contracting the services of professional lobbying firms: Quinn, Gillespie & Association ($480,000) and Walter Consulting ($40,000).  From the period of 1998 - 2006, the NAR shelled out over $97.5M in lobbying activities.  That puts them in 8th position in terms of which groups has spent the most during that time frame. 

For more information on what the NAR is currently advocating, particularly as it relates to consumer in real estate transactions click here. 

Popularity: 9%

Data released by the National Associations of Realtors has taken a look at markets across the U.S. and identified which ones have shown increases and decreases in home prices in the first quarter of 2007.  Nationwide, prices fell by an average of 6.6%. Here are a few local market highlights:

The Good - with an increase of:

1. Seattle, WA:  12.3%
2. Portland, OR:  8.9%
3. Salem, OR:  15.6%
4. San Antonio, TX:  11.2%
5. Austin, TX:  5.4%
6. Charlotte & Raleigh, NC:  6.4% and 6.3%, respectively
7. Richmond & Norfolk, VA:  6.2% and 5.9%, respectively
8. Albany, NY:  6.3%
9. Trenton, NJ:  7.1%
10. Allentown, PA:  5.8%

The Bad - with a decrease of:

1. Tampa, FL - 2%
2. Sarasota, Palm Bay and Daytona, FL - average of 9%
3. New Orleans, LA - 11%

The Ugly

Jonathan Miller, president of Miller Samuel, a New York-based real estate appraisal and consultancy firm of lenders nationwide remarking on the current slip in home prices:

“When housing prices slip, nothing really changes until you try to sell, which is what we’ve had happen in the last couple of months,” says Miller. “I don’t think the housing slowdown has fully hit the national economy yet.”

Popularity: 9%

The Village at Queensridge, a mixed-use development has signed three tenants for its 29-acre development that includes 700,000 square feet of retail, restaurants, entertainment, offices space and 340 condominiums. Mastro’s Ocean Club and chef Roland Passot’s Left Bank have announced plans to open. There are also plans for a Kidville, an upscale 20,000 square-foot entertainment center for children up to 5-years-old and their families.

Embracing the casually elegance of a luxurious European lifestyle, The Village blends the vital energy of Las Vegas with Mediterranean-influenced Old World architectural styling and an array of contemporary lifestyle options. Inspired by the spirit of a Spanish country villa and infused with the vibrant, the Village offers a cultured atmosphere bustling with the human activity of a true community.

The $850 million, amenity-laden Village At Queensridge broke ground on infrastructure in November of 2005 and has a scheduled completion date of 2008.

Popularity: 9%

Ryland Homes offers 8 new floor designs in the master-planned communities of Auburn and Bradford.   In Auburn, floor plans range from 2,071 to 2,970 square feet.  The homes are a collection of two- and three-story residences with four home designs in up to four bedrooms and three baths and two-car garages. The homes are priced from the mid-$300,000s.

Bradford neighborhood offers four home designs in three architectural finishes. Floor plans range from three to four bedrooms in up to 3,099 square feet. Prices begin in the low $300,000s. 

Interactive floor plans of all Ryland Homes’ designs are available at ryland.com.  For more information contact MillionSaverHomes at 702-212-3513.

Popularity: 9%

The U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development released their report on new residential construction for April 2007 on Wednesday:

Building Permits: Privately-owned housing units were down 8.9% from the revised March rate and 28% below the April 2006 revised estimates.  Single-family authorizations in April were 6% below the March figure.

Housing Starts: Privately-owned housing starts in April were 2.5% above the revised March estimate, but was 16.1% below the revised April 2006 rate. Single-family housing starts in April were 1.6% above the March figure.

Popularity: 9%