Despite recent cancellations of a few high profile high rise projects, most of them are moving right along. Turnberry Ltd recently announced that their newest project, Turnberry Towers, has reached the top of the East Tower. The 45 story tower should be fully completed by this coming spring.  Construction on the West tower is still underway and should be completed by spring of 2008. Current prices for the project range from $550,000 million  to more than $1.3 million. Turnberry Tower buyers will also receive a two year membership to the 80,000 square foot Stirling Club, located in Turnberry Ltd's first project, Turnberry Place.  The club features fine dining, fitness center, European spa and many other amenities. The picture I attached is from the middle of May, so you can see the const... 10/04/2006

The colossal planned community on the strip is going forward. Project City Center will reside on the former site of the Boardwalk casino on the Las Vegas strip. It will be located between the Monte Carlo and the Bellagio, connecting both properties.  The entire parcel is 66 acres, making it the largest project on the strip. The mixed use project will boast a 4,000 hotel room luxury hotel and casino,  2,800 condominiums for sale and 2 400 room boutique hotels. The entire project is expected to cost 7 billion dollars. It is expected to open in late 2009. For more information about CityCenter, feel free to contact me directly at 702-493-8033. -cr 09/30/2006

In a September 21 article in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, housing analyst Ken Perlman, of Sullivan Group, discusses how builders are moving away from master-planned communities dominated by single-family homes to more condo, townhome, and "wrap" projects. A "wrap" consists of housing units built around an above-ground parking facility.According to Perlman, "developers still reap the benefits of higher density where land values are justified, yet they can build and sell these units at $250 a square foot instead of $350 a square foot." Higher density units are a builder response to rising construction costs and land costs.Despite a 37% decrease in new home sales, and record inventory levels in the resale market, Sullivan Group president Tim Sullivan is still bullish on Las Vegas, and thi... 09/22/2006

I was reading through the Nevada blog posts and came across one mentioning the cancellation of the Ivana project. Back in May of this year, Jacqui was interviewed by Jane Wells of CNBC (On the Money) about the Las Vegas high rise market. Strangely enough, the Ivana project was brought up. The land is actually up for sale for around 49 million (in case anyone is interested). Usually the reason given for a cancellation is the rising cost of construction. For those of you thinking about buying a condo in a high rise project in Las Vegas, its important that you have all of the latest facts. Here is a list of all canceled/suspended projects:Ivana, The Curve, Red Rock Residences, Icon, Aqua Blue, Krystal Sands, Hard Rock Condos, Vegas 888, Majestic, Liberty Tower and Las RamblasDespite the ab... 09/22/2006

Despite a cooling of the housing market in Las Vegas, the condo conversion rate is still going strong. At one time, the city council was actually considering a six month moratorium for any new condo conversions because of the lack of rental apartments.  Sales have started to decline, despite that many more projects are still being announced. Las Vegas condo communities are starting to raise the stakes by offering better amenities than their predecessors.  Residents that live in the Dolce condo community, have access to both an indoor and outdoor swimming pool, a state of the art fitness center and a sauna and steam facility.  Interiors feature stainless steel appliances, granite countertops, blinds and free premium cable television channels. I'm sure as the market changes free amenities... 09/21/2006

One of the homes in my area has had a Help U Sell sign in their yard for about 4 months. I noticed the other morning that the sign had changed to a full service brokerage. I hope the agent works hard promoting the property and gets it sold for the owner. You just can't beat a hard working agent that's willing to put in the work.   Brought  to you by Team  Maxwell 09/21/2006

(... in response to Blog Topic #6 ...)Hello Mr. Mardini,Thanks for your inquiry from my ActiveRain profile about the Las Vegas real estate market. Southern Nevada continues to attract new residents in record numbers. In fact, North Las Vegas is the 2nd fastest growing city in the nation. We offer a great mix of recreation, shopping and entertainment, no state income tax, and an average of 320 sunny days a year!There is a wide variety of homes available to you at $425,000, and just as many choices for financing. Nima, Scott, Brian or Josh can show you the options and help you pick a loan that's right for you.I've sent you a Las Vegas relocation DVD, along with a 'Buyer Questionnaire' to clarify your needs and help me quickly find the perfect home for you. In the meantime, here's an overv... 09/19/2006

I've been making posts on this subject in the past week and this afternoon was a major set back for the sale of the Crazy Horse Too. The owners were in court asking a judge to stop the City of Las Vegas from enforcing a ruling made last week by the City Council to suspend the Liquor License at the Crazy Horse Too. The judge refused......we're back to Kool-Aid at the Horse. It is going to be interesting to see how they will get is sold if the doors remain closed, the doors were closed last Friday! I'll keep you all posted on this as more info becomes available. 09/12/2006

An article titled "Appliances, upgrades, landscaping ... it's all 'free'" in this morning's Las Vegas Review-Journal discusses the effect of builder incentives (up to 10% co-ops, and $25,000+ to buyers) on the housing market. For resale homes, it's brutally challenging. Although they may only be 1-5 years old, and built by the same builder, they really only have two ways to compete - price and location. The builder has a whole arsenal - professionally decorated models, financing incentives, upgrades, the buyer getting to choose the exact flooring, counters and cabinets they prefer, etc. Maybe I'm over-analyzing this (I'm an extremely high C on the DISC) but when I pull comps and look at the sale prices, I'm wondering more and more what the true value was. For a resale I can always look ... 09/10/2006

Earlier this week the Clark County Commissioners adopted the new master plan for the Northeast county. This is an issue that has flown under the radar in the Las Vegas press but for the people that it has impacted it's been quite the disputed issue. Here is a link for all of the details for anyone that's interested.http://www.co.clark.nv.us/comprehensive_planning/LUP/North/NortheastPlanningArea.htm To give you the basics, Northeast Clark County has been a very rural community but as a suburb/bedroom community of Las Vegas it is going through MAJOR growing pains! In my other blog I've posted some of the correspondence I've had with the county commissioners on this during the process. This is a 5 year plan that does not change the zoning only the plan but for the next 2 years only conform... 09/08/2006

This is the big new to hit Las Vegas. It looks like the Crazy Horse Too is going to be serving Kool-Aid for the next few weeks unless they can get their Liquor License back! Here is a link to the whole story as reported in the Las Vegas Review JournalRick Rizzolo, the long time owner of the club has been a high profile figure in Vegas as we have seen so much national attention on the gentlemen's cabaret clubs over the past few years. Rizzolo made a plea agreement with the Feds earlier this year and as a result one of the stipulations is for him to sell the club within a year. It is currently for sale, if you are interested in a purchase, let me know and I can get anyone more details on the sale.I personally think they will get their license back in some way, after all they are one of th... 09/07/2006

Providence? A bit of an ironic name for one of the newest master planned communities in Sin City! I guess The Focus Property Group was going for the definition of "Prudent management of resources" as defined at dictionary.com. Anyway this is a new community located in the northwest part of the Las Vegas Valley where there will be another 7,500 homes built over the next few years on about 1,200 acres. You can find more detail of what to expect at this link. It is amazing to hear about all of the troubles the gulf coast is having in rebuilding homes even after a year. Here in Southern Nevada we are seeing hundreds of billions of private money being spent on job creation, infrastructure and growth. It is exciting to be in an area where there is so much going on and up in a short period of ... 08/29/2006

In early 2004, with only about 2500 resale homes on the market, many Las Vegas homebuilders didn't offer any co-op to agents. They had waiting lists of hundreds, and some hopeful buyers would actually 'camp out' near the sales trailer waiting for the next release. Today with over 16,000 resale homes available and about 500 new-home communities actively selling, competition is brutally competitive. Here's a sampling of some of the incentives builders in Las Vegas have recently offered: $30,000 co-op and $10,000 towards closing costs with builder's lender (base price is $346,000) 14% co-op on standing inventory $40,000 towards upgrades and closing costs (base price is $327,000) 6% co-op on first sale, 7% on second, 8% on third As long as builders keep their prices high and offer incentive... 08/27/2006

Last year Nevada added a new custom license plate to their charity plate list. For those of you that live in Nevada or are thinking of moving there, the plate fee is initially $61 and then $30 to renew each year.  Of that, $25 of the initial fee and $20 of the renewal is donated to local animal rescue groups and charities. One of the charities I foster dogs for, Heaven Can Wait Sanctuary, received a $5,000 grant from the donation pool raised by this plate in 2005.  When you go to the DMV, you have to ask for a special plate, they really don't advertise them too much. The Nevada DMV offers a total of 27 charitable and collegiate license plates.  You can view the entire list on the DMV Site. 07/26/2006

Despite the cooling of the Las Vegas housing market, Las Vegas condos are still going strong. With the price of Las Vegas homes rising so quickly in the last couple of years, potential new home owners are turning to a more affordable property - Las Vegas condos. Another factor fueling the growth of the Las Vegas condo market is condo conversions. There are dozens of condominium conversion projects across the Las Vegas valley. Many of these communities are styled towards a more resort type living. Several offer extra amenities, such as free wifi internet access, private dog park for residents, putting greens, resort style pools and free tanning to name a few.Several new high rise condo projects are being constructed as well. New announced projects including a high rise project from Maxim... 07/16/2006

It seemed that 2006 was going to be the year of high rise cancellations. The suspension of the Curve project comes on the heels of the cancellation of Icon, Ivana and Liberty Tower earlier this year. Despite this recent suspension, the amount of projects going forward is still far more than the majority of the "experts" had predicted. Recently, Las Ramblas also joined the ranks of the dream projects.However, several other new projects were announced and are going forward. The Residences at Red Rock are being built on to the newly completed Red Rock Station in Summerlin.  They will be condo hotel units, aimed at the upper echelon market.  Evolution, a loft project in downtown Las Vegas has started taking reservations. Spa Lofts, another high end loft project is also taking reservations. ... 07/07/2006

The Las Vegas real estate market is a buyer's dream come true at the moment.  A record number of over 19,000 homes are currently on the market according to the Las Vegas MLS (multiple listing service).  Builders are offering free upgrades, window coverings, upgraded appliance, waiving HOA fees for year(s)---all to entice a buyer to pick their development. Competition in the condominium market is just as fierce.  In addition to offering similar incentives like upgrades or waiving HOA fees, some communities are offering additional value services like free tanning on premises, free wireless internet service, private dog parks and free car washes to name just a few. With so many choices it can be bewildering to pick the community that is best for you and that gets you the most value for you... 06/28/2006