Distressed sales push valley land values downward
Local analysts say recovery won't happen without sustained job growth
BY TONY ILLIA
Southern Nevada vacant land values plunged during the first quarter as bank foreclosures and distressed sales drove prices downward, Las Vegas-based business advisory firm Applied Analysis reported. Valley land values averaged $182,441 an acre at the end of March, or $4.19 per square foot, down 24.1 percent from last year.
Only 150 parcels changed hands during the first quarter, which is less than half the amount from the previous quarter. About 527 acres transferred ownership in the first three months of 2010, or 46.6 percent more than in 2009. Trustee sales, or lender foreclosures, represented 74.4 percent of total land sales in the first quarter, Applied Analysis reported. Traditional arm's-length transactions accounted for less than one-quarter of the total market activity. Deeds in lieu of foreclosure and quitclaim deeds represented the balance of ownership transfers.
The first quarter's largest land deal entailed 71.7 acres at the northeast corner of Blue Diamond Road and State Route 159 in the southwest valley. Nevada State Bank acquired the property in a trustee sale for $35,300 per acre, or 81 cents per square foot. The deal represents 13.6 percent of the total acreage transferred during the quarter.
COURTESY SLETTEN COS
Local vacant land values plunged in the first quarter, data show. Valley land values averaged $182,441 an acre at the end of March, or $4.19 per square foot, down 24.1 percent from last year.
COURTESY THE RICHARDSON GROUP
Jaynes Corp. recently broke ground on a $5.2 million, 30,000-square-foot rehabilitation center for Advanced Health Care of Las Vegas at Jones Boulevard and Sunset Road.
"Deterioration across all commercial sectors, excess housing inventories and a lack of resort development continues to impact the demand for raw land," Applied Analysis principal Brian Gordon said. "With the level of distressed land sales increasing, investors and developers are resetting price points to a level not seen before the boom cycle was in full swing in 2004.
"At the current pace of correction, we are likely to see additional raw land transfer ownership as holding costs may outweigh the opportunity of waiting until valuations improve."
A deepening recession has businesses trimming overhead by downsizing operations, consolidating space and thinning staff. The valley's unemployment rate was 13.8 percent in March, the state Department of Employment Rehabilitation and Training reported. An estimated 137,500 Southern Nevadans are out of work. Banks aren't likely to loosen lending criteria until there are eight months or more of sustained employment growth, observers say.
"There is a tidal wave of vacant land foreclosures being processed, and 2010 will continue to see very high foreclosure levels for vacant land," Las Vegas-based land appraiser Charles Jack IV said. "We won't see any solid recovery of land values on a continuing upward basis until employment improves. It will then take an extended period of time to reduce current vacant inventories and achieve occupancy stabilization."
PROJECTS
Jaynes Corp. recently broke ground on a $5.2 million, 30,000-square-foot rehabilitation center, on 8 acres, for Advanced Health Care of Las Vegas at Jones Boulevard and Sunset Road. Construction on the single-story, 38-room building, designed by The Richardson Group, is scheduled to finish later this year.
Southern Nevada Paving is performing a $942,171 pavement resurfacing of Alexander Road between Cimarron Road and U.S. Highway 95 in Las Vegas. The project is scheduled to finish this summer.
MILLION-DOLLAR DEAL
Member groups of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners have committed $250 million to a capital fund controlled by The Related Cos., co-owner of the World Market Center in downtown Las Vegas. Related also serves as construction manager on the $3.9 billion Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, which is scheduled to open later this year at 3700 Las Vegas Blvd. South. The separately managed account will be used for construction loans on new developments.
RE Capital Partners bought a 47-year-old, 100-unit apartment complex at 2508 Tulip Lane in Las Vegas for $2 million, or $20,000 per unit, from Zion's National Bank. Sale of the 72,500-square-foot building, on 0.81 acres, equals $28 per square foot. Commerce Real Estate Solutions' Gary Banner and Gary Cuff represented the buyer.
Contact reporter Tony Illia at tonyillia@aol.com or 702-303-5699.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Monday, May 17, 2010
Great Article on Paying Down Debt!
Less Flaking, More Snowflaking Will Help Pay Down Debt
By Gregory Karp
RISMEDIA, May 17, 2010--(MCT)--If you're in debt as we head into summer, it's time to start thinking about snowflakes.
The idea of "snowflaking" is to make small debt payments, often on a credit card balance, more than once a month.
These snowflakes become part of your debt snowball, a technique by which you pay the minimum monthly payments on all debts except one that you focus on. As you pay off that debt, apply all the money you were paying on it to your next debt, which pays off that one faster, and so on. It creates a snowball effect, as if a snowball was gaining speed and rolling downhill.
The benefit of using snowflakes and a snowball is becoming debt-free quicker and paying far less interest. You'll even be motivated and help your credit score. This is one time when "throwing money at the problem" works.
Here's how to use snowflakes, also called micropayments, and why those in debt should consider it:
—Call your card company: Most allow you to make many payments in a month for free. Call the phone number on the back of the card and ask about your issuer's policy. "The majority of the major issuers will allow you to do this," said Bill Hardekopf, founder of credit card comparison site LowCards.com.
—Use regular snowflakes: Set up additional automatic payments to your credit card company. For example, if you get paychecks weekly or biweekly, make payment on the payday. One painless strategy is to pay half your usual amount biweekly. This amounts to 13 monthly payments in a year, instead of 12. "And all of that extra payment goes to pay off the balance. It doesn't go to interest," Hardekopf said. "So, your balance will come down faster."
—Use irregular snowflakes: Hardcore snowflakers make many small payments in a month. If you skip a $9.46 lunch out at work, ship that amount to your credit card company. Work two hours of overtime or get a tax refund? Slap it against the debt. The point is to immediately make a payment with extra money or cash you saved.
Besides erasing debt quicker, snowflaking makes sense for other reasons.
—You'll save on interest: Most credit card companies assess interest daily on unpaid balances. So paying early saves weeks of interest charges. Month after month, savings add up. And the quicker you get rid of the debt, the less interest you pay.
—You'll gain motivation: Making more payments forces you to think about your debts more often and gives you a more frequent thrill from seeing balances dwindle. If you want more motivation, focus the extra payments on debts smallest to largest. That allows you to pay off a few quickly, which can be a big emotional boost, like losing a few pounds in the first week of a diet. If you're more the mathematical type, pay off debts from highest interest rate to lowest.
"If you feel, 'Hey, I'm cutting into this,' you can gain momentum psychologically," Hardekopf said. "You might think, 'I'll skip going to dinner this week and take that 20 bucks and tack it onto my credit card payment.' "
—You'll improve your credit score: For those who carry balances, paying off debt quicker improves their credit score quicker. You might avoid late payments because you're more focused on the debt. Multiple payments can also help those who don't carry balances. Your credit scores are partly calculated on how much of your available credit you're using at any time. If you use $4,500 of a $5,000 available limit, you're penalized by credit-scoring models regardless of whether you pay the balance at month's end. By making multiple payments, you reduce your credit-usage ratio, which accounts for 30 percent of your FICO score.
(c) 2010, The Morning Call (Allentown, Pa.)
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
By Gregory Karp
RISMEDIA, May 17, 2010--(MCT)--If you're in debt as we head into summer, it's time to start thinking about snowflakes.
The idea of "snowflaking" is to make small debt payments, often on a credit card balance, more than once a month.
These snowflakes become part of your debt snowball, a technique by which you pay the minimum monthly payments on all debts except one that you focus on. As you pay off that debt, apply all the money you were paying on it to your next debt, which pays off that one faster, and so on. It creates a snowball effect, as if a snowball was gaining speed and rolling downhill.
The benefit of using snowflakes and a snowball is becoming debt-free quicker and paying far less interest. You'll even be motivated and help your credit score. This is one time when "throwing money at the problem" works.
Here's how to use snowflakes, also called micropayments, and why those in debt should consider it:
—Call your card company: Most allow you to make many payments in a month for free. Call the phone number on the back of the card and ask about your issuer's policy. "The majority of the major issuers will allow you to do this," said Bill Hardekopf, founder of credit card comparison site LowCards.com.
—Use regular snowflakes: Set up additional automatic payments to your credit card company. For example, if you get paychecks weekly or biweekly, make payment on the payday. One painless strategy is to pay half your usual amount biweekly. This amounts to 13 monthly payments in a year, instead of 12. "And all of that extra payment goes to pay off the balance. It doesn't go to interest," Hardekopf said. "So, your balance will come down faster."
—Use irregular snowflakes: Hardcore snowflakers make many small payments in a month. If you skip a $9.46 lunch out at work, ship that amount to your credit card company. Work two hours of overtime or get a tax refund? Slap it against the debt. The point is to immediately make a payment with extra money or cash you saved.
Besides erasing debt quicker, snowflaking makes sense for other reasons.
—You'll save on interest: Most credit card companies assess interest daily on unpaid balances. So paying early saves weeks of interest charges. Month after month, savings add up. And the quicker you get rid of the debt, the less interest you pay.
—You'll gain motivation: Making more payments forces you to think about your debts more often and gives you a more frequent thrill from seeing balances dwindle. If you want more motivation, focus the extra payments on debts smallest to largest. That allows you to pay off a few quickly, which can be a big emotional boost, like losing a few pounds in the first week of a diet. If you're more the mathematical type, pay off debts from highest interest rate to lowest.
"If you feel, 'Hey, I'm cutting into this,' you can gain momentum psychologically," Hardekopf said. "You might think, 'I'll skip going to dinner this week and take that 20 bucks and tack it onto my credit card payment.' "
—You'll improve your credit score: For those who carry balances, paying off debt quicker improves their credit score quicker. You might avoid late payments because you're more focused on the debt. Multiple payments can also help those who don't carry balances. Your credit scores are partly calculated on how much of your available credit you're using at any time. If you use $4,500 of a $5,000 available limit, you're penalized by credit-scoring models regardless of whether you pay the balance at month's end. By making multiple payments, you reduce your credit-usage ratio, which accounts for 30 percent of your FICO score.
(c) 2010, The Morning Call (Allentown, Pa.)
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)