http://stephaniebullock.cbvegas.com/blog/archive_201505/sort_entrydatetime-desc/ By Jonas PetersonPresident & Chief Economic Development Officer, Las Vegas Global Economic AllianceThe Las Vegas Valley has more than $11.1 billion in projects underway right now. That’s the news we heard May 19 at the Las Vegas Perspective event, Southern Nevada’s premier source of community and economic development data, analysis and forecasting.The Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance released the 178-page market overview guide in an event that featured several panels, one of which was an overview of four of the largest projects proposed or underway in the region.If there’s any sign that our market is improving, it’s these projects:Rossi Ralenkotter, president and CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, told our panel about the planned $2.3 billion Global Business District. The district would add hundreds of thousands of square feet of convention space to the existing convention center, which would help Las Vegas maintain its position as the No. 1 convention destination in America. More broadly, Ralenkotter said special events, conventions, and international travel are our market’s future growth areas.In Henderson, the $1.2 billion Union Village project is underway. Karla Perez, regional vice president of the Valley Health System, said that the new 142-bed Henderson Hospital project will be the “anchor tenant” at Union Village and will eventually employ 700 people.Near Boulder City, the Interstate 11 project broke ground in April. It’s the first new Interstate in the United States since 1992, and it will connect the two largest cities currently unconnected by an Interstate highway: Phoenix and Las Vegas. The Interstate will eventually run from Mexico to Canada. Tina Quigley, general manager of the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada, said that it will provide 4,000 construction jobs and have a $4 billion economic impact in Southern Nevada.On The Strip, we heard from Mark Prows, vice president of arenas for MGM Resorts International, who said that the 20,000-seat arena project will have a $600 economic impact. As has been much discussed in Las Vegas, the arena could one day host a NHL hockey team, and Prows was bullish on the notion of the hockey league one day bringing a team to Las Vegas.This panel represents some of the more significant projects underway to improve our economy, but they’re certainly not the only ones. We’ve seen a lot of encouraging signs during the first months of this year, but we know that it’s not the time to let our foot off the economic gas pedal yet.At the LVGEA, we’re intensely focused on community and economic development, and we know the sport we’re engaged is in more akin to a marathon than a sprint. Just like these projects will take years to complete, we’ve come a long way and we’ve still got a long way to go if we want to truly gain all the benefits of living and working in an economically diversified community. These projects will be a huge step forward in the right direction, and I hope we’ll be hearing more about their progress over the coming months and years.   http://stephaniebullock.cbvegas.com/blog/2203/the-las-vegas-development-pipeline/ Wed, 20 May 2015 10:59:13 -0800 Coldwell Banker Premier Realty's (CBPR) Leadership Team continues its trend in 2015 of receiving honors for outstanding performance in the real estate industry. The Review Journal recently announced that CBPR's Vice President of Corporate Services, Sue Kwasneski, will be presented with the Women Who Mean Business Award on May 21 at Trump International. This award is prestigious as the Review Journal recognizes just 15 business women in the Las Vegas valley annually. Kwasneski and her relocation team also recently received the prestigious "Platinum Award” from the nation" largest relocation network, Cartus, for its excellence in relocation services. In addition to the accomplishments of CBPR's Corporate Services division, a number of other CBPR representatives received honors in 2015. Molly Hamrick, President and COO was honored as University of Nevada Las Vegas' Marketing and International Business Alumnus of the Year. Tammy Pitts, Vice President of Operations for CBPR made Nevada Business Journal's 40 under 40 list while from a sales side, Sales Associates Paula Burlison, Carol Crowder, Kameron Kildea, Tina Mello, Dianne Varney and Loralee Wood were all named among Nevada's Top Residential Realtors by Nevada Business Journal. Diane Varney was additionally recognized in the Top 25 Women In Real Estate list by Nevada Business Journal. To top off the 1st quarter of the year, Devin Reiss, CBPR's Senior Director of Career Development, was featured on the front page of the Nevada Real Estate Division's monthly newsletter showcasing his appointment as the newest Real Estate Commissioner for the state of Nevada. With the scheduled release of realistiQ's newest innovations in real estate software along with dynamic new agent training portals, CBPR projects it will continue to have a strong year. About Coldwell Banker Premier RealtyColdwell Banker Premier Realty in Las Vegas, Nevada is ranked among the nation's leading real estate brokers in sales and innovation as well as the top 1% of Coldwell Banker companies nationwide. CBPR, acquired by Bob and Molly Hamrick in 1998, has three offices in Southern Nevada (Summerlin, Henderson and Centennial Hills) and presently engages over 230 agents. In addition, Bob Hamrick served as senior vice president and broker of City Center Realty Corporation and is recognized nationwide as an expert on the Las Vegas real estate community. http://stephaniebullock.cbvegas.com/blog/790/coldwell-banker-premier-realty’s-leadership-team-continues-trend-in-2015-sue-kwasneski-receives-honors-for-outstanding-perform/ Thu, 14 May 2015 07:01:08 -0800 REVIEWING THE MARKET LIFESTYLE, BEAUTY & VALUEThe Luxury single family home market in Las Vegas continues to show relative strength. The year is starting off relatively well and should be similar to last year in which the market reflected strong interest in high quality homes in prime locations. 2013 was certainly stronger, but that reflected a very solid year.Prices continue to trend upwards but we still view the market as having significant value across three key areas, lifestyle, replacement cost and comparative value. Lifestyle is the principal reason most owners purchase their homes. Comfort, entertainment options, security, views and outdoor living options are typically central to the choice. Las Vegas has some fine examples of prime homes that meet even the strictest demands, the result of passionate design and craftsmanship.In terms of pricing, many homes continue to trade for less than replacement cost, signifying some further embedded upside and contractors are telling us that they are facing higher labor and material costs.When we view local market transactions versus other prime homes in desirable areas such as Southern California, the picture of value becomes more defined. For similar architectural designs, we see many homes in California (even in noncoastal markets) trading for a multiple of the prices on similar homes in the Las Vegas area.PRIMARY LOCATIONSThe Ridges, Anthem, Beleza at Southern Highlands, Foothills at Macdonald Ranch, Red Rock Country Club, Eagle Hills, Lake Las Vegas and Tournament Hills are just a few examples of areas with fine examples of prime residential real estate. So far in 2015 through the multiple listing service, the highest sales price per-square foot took place in The Ridges, a premium southwest area neighborhood. This home achieved a selling price of nearly $646 per-square foot and featured a contemporary design, a massive pool, a theater, spacious living areas and unique finishes. This great example in The Ridges was also the highest sale in terms of absolute price.While many homes that sell in these price ranges are contemporary, there were also some old world and Tuscan examples. In Las Vegas, you can find a wide array of designs, some of which took years for craftsman to complete. For buyers that want to express their own set of visions, there are a multitude of custom lots available, including those being offered in the Summerlin area by Howard Hughes Corporation or the many privately held options in the Henderson and Northwest areas. The Howard Hughes-Discovery Land Co. project south of The Ridges promises to be one of most exclusive luxury communities in the Southwest U.S, so we look forward to seeing activity there soon.There is also real estate for buyers that desire semi-custom options with several builders producing excellent choices, including Lennar’s Olympia Ridge in Southern Highlands, when including options. William Lyon Homes has been activein the Summerlin area and has delivered some impressive designs with excellent finishes that sold very well. There are also several private builders, such as Touchstone Living, that builds estate-sized homes. Emerald Homes, which is DRHorton’s luxury division, is also building homes near Buffalo and Oakey.CHALLENGESAlthough some individuals view their home as an investment, luxury homes are emotional real estate. As such, they present unique challenges to both sellers and buyers when examining values. Similarly, we have seen two differentappraisals on the same home that had a very wide disparity because each of the “comparable sales” is so unique. A home is worth what somebody will pay for it and not all individuals view certain home features equally.SELLERS' MISPERCEPTION OF VALUEAnother challenge that we observe is from the viewpoint of sellers. Many homes that trade in this prime category are custom homes. Custom homes can be a labor of love and certain features may be near and dear to the original ownerbut do not necessarily translate into value for other interested parties. These points of discussion can be a major hang-up between buyers and sellers.OUTDATED PROPERTIESThere is a certain amount of obsolescence we are seeing in some homes in this category. While lot position, views and the overall structure may be excellent, dated kitchens, chopped up floorplans and un-renovated bathrooms have been a source of major objections by buyers, many of whom desire several modern features, even in homes that generally reflect an old world style or mid-century feel. Several features that many buyers want are open floor plans, automation, pools and energy efficiency. These are just a few considerations for some sellers.LUXURY HOME PRICE PER SQUARE FOOTKEY MULTIPLE LISTING SERVICE STATISTICSLUXURY SINGLE FAMILY HOME MONTHS-OF-SUPPLY IN MULTIPLE LISTING SERVICEDISTRIBUTION OF DAYS ON MARKET - QUARTER 1Marketing times tend to be substantially longer for luxury homes than traditional listings (112 vs 74 respectively). In fact, several have taken nearly one year in this sample. Clearly a smaller pool of effective buyers and the unique nature of each home influences days on market.RELATIVE SALES PRICES FOR SELECTED LUXURY HOME COMMUNITIES - QUARTER 1Notice that for homes that are greater than 6,000 square feet, prices become highly dispersed. This is due the uniqueness of these homes in terms of area, lot configuration and overall building design and finish. Uniqueness can be a source of pride for the owner but makes it difficult to establish probable selling prices.NUMBER OF HOMES THAT TRADED FOR AN EXCESS OF $750,000If we ignore the real estate boom period in which both prices and transaction levels reached absurd levels, 2013 was a relatively strong year. 2014 generally had some of that momentum carried forward, although not with the assertiveness of 2013. Buyer interest remains quite strong this year as well and supply is up slightly from the same time last year so there is a possibility that 2015 may at least meet the 2014 figures.LUXURY HOME CLOSINGS & EXPIRED LISTINGS - QUARTER 1LUXURY LISTINGSWhile estimating a probable selling price is a particular challenge for luxury listings, one should be continuously aware of nearby listings. We like to inform our clients of new listings, recent closings and importantly, expired listings. Expired listings often give us almost as much information as actual closings. These can often be used to gauge the reasonable domain of likely sales prices.EXPIRED HISTORYExpired listings for luxury homes were relatively less frequent in the past two years and 2015 will likely be similar.We posit several possible reasons for this. One, transaction levels have been high enough to establish comparables, two, the very wealthy have generally done very well in the last couple of years (alleviating issues with impractical sellers) and finally, more stable price trends alleviate any “market chasing.”SELECTED LUXURY HOME COMMUNITIESLuxury buyers can expect comparable amenities with other prime real estate areas. Moreover, as an international destination, Las Vegas represents both a trophy aspect as well as a variety of lifestyle and practical options for the affluent. The map above illustrates some key premium areas. In addition, there are many custom estate and equestrian properties not depicted here.The reasons for having a residence in Las Vegas are manifold, including potential tax benefits in Nevada, proximity to several of Southern Nevada’s key industries, lifestyle options like high-end dining, cycling, auto racing and aviation and many others. In addition, many prime areas include excellent vantage points of the Las Vegas strip, golf courses or mountains. Southern Nevada’s favorable weather means that many of the well conceived pool, spa and exterior living spaces are utilized almost year round.    Download Report http://stephaniebullock.cbvegas.com/blog/791/luxury-single-family-homes-first-quarter-report/ Wed, 13 May 2015 09:44:15 -0800