No Business, As Usual

By Alex Girda, Associate Editor

There was no major news recorded in the real estate sector for the city of Las Vegas this past week, but previous reports of the continued downturn haven’t been proven wrong by market realities. After mildly encouraging news regarding a smaller drop last week, foreclosure statistics posted this week seem to indicate the drop is too small to be considered a recovery just yet.

A VegasINC story this past week discussed the foreclosure filing numbers for the month of May, pointing out that there has been a 6 percent decrease compared to April. The state of Nevada still holds the No.1 spot in this statistic, with a number of 11,039 filings recorded this month. Particularly, Las Vegas had one filing for every 89 homes, which is six times more than the national average. RealtyTrac also reported 3,205 foreclosures for Clark County in May, which is a decline compared to both April 2011 and May 2010.

Meanwhile, Las Vegas is seeing a steady decline in vacancy rates, a Las Vegas Review-Journal story reported this week. Apartment vacancy dropped from 9.51 percent in April to 9.23 percent in May, according to CB Richard Ellis. The highest vacancy rate the city has seen in recent years was 10.4 percent in February 2010.

In other real estate news, an interesting metaphor regarding land prices in Las Vegas made headlines at VegasINC magazine. The business news outlet posted a story about a land deal for a 23.53-acre property situated next to the Tropicana Beltway Center. The foreclosed site traded for $4.4 million, compared to its previous sale in 200 for $30.2 million.