Untitled Page

Despite an economic slow-down across the Nation, in 2007 Nevada has remained the fastest growing State in the Union. Expectations for a 4.8% growth rate in the Clark County, Nevada population in 2007 and a 4.7% growth rate in the 2008 population were noted in the most recent UNLV Center for Business and Economic Research's (CBER) Economic Overview of Metropolitan Las Vegas.

While slower growth than was seen over the last few years is likely in Nevada, tourism is strong and continues to bolster the economy. Las Vegas visitor volume (approaching 40 million individuals per year), hotel room growth (nearing 140,000 rooms) and gross gaming revenue (closing on $ 12 billion annually) are all positive influences on the economy.

Housing prices in Clark County, which inflated substantially in 2004, has seen reductions in mid-2007 due to decreased demand. Concessions / reductions are expected to continue over the next several months, and the housing market appears likely to see further sales price roll-backs.

A turn-around in the residential real estate market after 20 years of upward movement in Nevada and Clark County is inevitable, and while the State has lost its relative housing price advantage over Arizona and Utah, the higher prices appear to reflect the relative demand for housing within the States.

The continued poor market performance appears to be here for an extended period and a downward adjustment in many areas is under way. The depth of the discounts required to bring the market to equilibrium is an unknown as for mid-2007.

THE BEST AGENTS

Who are the best real estate agents?
Are they the agents with the lowest commissions or the agents who do the best job of getting properties sold, the ones with the best sales statistics?

There is a great deal of controversy in the real estate industry today over whether or not agents "earn" their commission, and a new round of discount brokerage firms have materialized to provide either limited, partial service or "full" service for what has been represented to the public to be a "lowered" or "discount" fee.

Since commission rates were never set by the industry, but have always been negotiated between the parties in a transaction, the pressure to provide lower fees has been with agents for years. Premier firms have not lost large market share as markets have slowed, so it appears that the demand for agents who can perform is as strong as ever. It appears obvious that many customers are willing to pay for results, and discounts are not as compelling as once thought. GJR