LV bank shuts down - Nevada officials say voluntary closing a first for state
A Las Vegas bank voluntarily shut its doors in late April due to worsening economic conditions, a first for Southern Nevada's usually vibrant banking community. Fifth Street Bank had been operating for about a year before bank officers decided to notify depositors and state officials of the decision.Neither state regulators nor bank Chief Executive Officer Philip LaChapelle knew of any instance in which a bank had voluntarily closed, although bank regulators periodically take over and shut down failing banks.
The bank was finding it increasingly difficult to find borrowers with good credit.
Fifth Street used short-term, variable rate deposits to make long-term fixed-rate loans, according to two other bankers, who spoke anonymously.
Silver State Bancorp reports $14.4 million first-quarter loss
Silver State Bancorp of Henderson reported a $14.4 million first-quarter loss because of problem loans, which reversed net income of $5.6 million, or 39 cents per share, a year ago.
Silver State charged off $9.7 million in loans and counted $78 million in nonperforming loans. About two-thirds of Silver State’s loan portfolio is construction and land loans, and those loans account for approximately 82% of the company’s $78 million in nonaccrual. Nonperforming loans represented 4.8 percent of outstanding loans, compared with 0.01 percent a year ago. The company related the increase of bad loans to project delays on residential construction and land loans.
The other two publicly traded banking companies headquartered in Southern Nevada, Community Bancorp and Western Alliance Bancorporation, also are struggling with problem loans because of the local economic slump.
Silver State Bancorp Announces Resignation of Douglas E. French, Executive Vice President
Silver State Bancorp (Nasdaq: SSBX) today announced the resignation of Douglas E. French, Executive Vice President of Commercial Real Estate Lending, for personal reasons.
First National bank of Nevada posts $7.3 million loss
The real estate bust is hammering banks in the state, but First National Bank of Nevada, an affiliated bank in Arizona and their holding company are getting dinged more than most.
"A number of other financial institutions are facing the same issues, and we are doing the same things that other financial institutions are doing," said Joel Gottesman, executive vice president and chief administrative officer of the banks.
First National's banks are working to raise capital and reduce the size of the balance sheet, he said.
First National Bank Holding Co., a $4.6 billion-asset company based in Scottsdale, Ariz., reported a first-quarter loss of $140.4 million, compared with profit of $9.1 million last year, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
Most of that stemmed from its $2.8 billion-asset First National Bank of Arizona, which reported $131.3 million in first-quarter losses compared with profit of $1.8 million in the first period last year.
Nonaccrual loans at the Arizona institution totaled $260 million, compared with $50 million a year ago.
Bankers classify loans as nonaccrual when the borrower has defaulted on interest or principal payments or is expected to default.
The $1.6 billion-asset Nevada bank employs 210 workers at 11 branches around the state. The Nevada institution reported a first-quarter loss of $7.3 million, compared with $6.8 million in profit in the same period last year.
Problem loans weighed on the Nevada bank's performance. It reported $62.1 million in nonaccrual loans, compared with $231,000 in nonaccrual loans at the end of the first quarter last year.
Looked at another way, nonperforming loans and loans more than 90 days past due equaled 4.28 percent of total assets at the Nevada bank, up from 0.61 percent at year-end and a miniscule 0.02 percent a year ago.
At the Arizona bank, nonperforming loans and loans 90 days past due totaled a 10.92 percent of assets, which bankers privately call staggering.
Closing Thoughts:
This housing/credit crunch ball-game has just started, so I expect to see several more Nevada banks fail within the next 12 months.
Randy
Showing posts with label Commercial Real Estate Bubble. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Commercial Real Estate Bubble. Show all posts
Friday, May 30, 2008
Thursday, April 03, 2008
Las Vegas Preforeclosures Hit Record
Back in February 08, I told you that Las Vegas was #1 in foreclosures, and then showed you how we (unfortunately) captured 15 of the top 20 spots on the National Foreclosure List: Las Vegas Tops Foreclosure List.
Well, as I stated then and have been predicting all along, things aren't going to get any better anytime soon -- this was some bubble and we've got a long way to fall.
The city finance director says the Las Vegas housing market and consumer spending are in a recession although overall the city is not in one yet. Still, it means huge cuts that will affect every department and Las Vegas residents waiting longer for services.
"Only an idiot would say that everything is going to be hunky dorey. It is not. We are just going to have to do what we can with the money that we have," said Mayor Oscar Goodman.
So, where does Las Vegas go from here?
For lack of better words than those I've already written, I'm going to repost some of my closing thoughts from a December 07 Las Vegas Housing Bubble Post, as they still apply
Las Vegas’s economy has been completely dependent on the discretionary spending of vacationers (Airlines, Hotels, Restaurants, Shows, Gambling, Drinking, Strip Clubs, etc) and the city lacks any real or substantial diversification. When tourism & discretionary spending finally start to decline (due to National negative savings rates, rising inflation and falling home values), gaming revenues will drop, hotel occupancy rates will fall, and thousands of layoffs will follow.
Those locals who find themselves unemployed will quickly find that they have very limited options, as the entire hotel & gaming industry will be feeling the same economic pains. The lack of industry diversification in the city will be a killer!
Currently, with housing values falling, the wealth effect is under strain and many people are having difficulty understanding what has happened to the housing market, while most are still holding on to the false hope it will recover somewhat quickly.
In the meantime, these folks have a mortgage that must get paid, all while coping with higher gas, food prices, tuition, insurance, energy bills, etc. Many are already strained to the max and the black hole of upcoming teaser rate mortgage resets will finally set them over the edge. (Note: refinancing will not be an option for those who have purchased within the last 3 years because they are already underwater; additionally many who have owned for decades used the cheap rates and housing boom to extract available equity--to live beyond their means; so they too cannot refinance).
This same issue is beginning to impact millions from across the nation!!!
Additionally, the home ATM machine that people used to draw money out of regularly has finally dried up, so they have ended up resorting back to the credit cards (the same ones they paid off with that home equity line of credit last year) just to make daily ends meet.
This is going to end horribly (on a national scale)!
BOTTOM LINE: When tourism starts to wane, due to people running out of discretionary cash, gaming/hotel industry layoffs will follow, cascading the impacts of the already doomed Valley housing market, as more locals will be unable to meet their monthly mortgage obligations.
Reduced spending levels, increasing layoffs, magnified home foreclosures and tightening credit conditions will cause a doubly painful domino effect on the Commercial real estate market and in due time, the impacts will be extremely painful to the entire economy. .. State Tax revenues will fall, budget cuts will follow and the increasing number of government layoffs will only exacerbate/compound the situation.
I think one of my readers summarized the situation best: “ Las Vegas lives off the margin. Good times, fat margins; lean times, no margin. LV has no plan B, there's nothing to take up the slack from a decrease in visitor volume. Even dollar rich foreigners aren't going to hold up employment that is based on a volume service industry and housing construction.”
Randy
Well, as I stated then and have been predicting all along, things aren't going to get any better anytime soon -- this was some bubble and we've got a long way to fall.
From the Las Vegas Review Journal Today: Bad news mounts in housing
The number of Clark County homes that entered preforeclosure status reached a record 6,152 in March, up 52 percent from February and more than double the 2,813 preforeclosures in the same month a year ago, Sacramento, Calif.-based Foreclosures.com reported.
The county has 15,937 preforeclosures through the first quarter of the year, or 3.11 percent of its 512,253 households, the online foreclosure source reported.
Nevada leads the nation with 2.42 percent of its households, or 18,087 homes, in preforeclosure through March, followed by Arizona (1.96 percent), Florida (1.87 percent) and California (1.05 percent).
Staggering foreclosure numbers are the result of a multitude of factors, including a meltdown in the mortgage lending industry, fraudulent appraisal values and overzealous speculators.
Real estate-owned, or bank-owned, homes in the county also rose substantially in March to 1,937, up from 1,640 the previous month and 1,763 in January. The three-month total is three times more than a year ago.
Jeanette Young said she's now faced with possible foreclosure on her home after losing her job at National Alliance Title, which closed in December.
President Bush's plan to give $600 tax rebates to help homeowners is a "joke," she said.
"I don't know anyone that has a mortgage that is $600, unless they've had the same loan for 10-plus years," she said. "Mine is $2,200 plus all the other bills associated with a home. I do not see any relief in sight for those of us who have lost our jobs, cannot find comparable income and now cannot make our house payments."
So, how is this foreclosure issue impacting the broader Nevada economy?
Nevada's January gambling revenue falls 4.8 pct
Nevada casinos won $1.06 billion from gamblers in January, a 4.8 percent decrease from the same month a year earlier, Nevada's Gaming Control Board said on Friday.
Hooters Hotel sees fourth-quarter decline
Hooters Hotel's management said the economic downturn late last year drove fourth-quarter revenue down as the property saw department wide declines.
Fourth-quarter net revenues declined 11.5 percent to $14.8 million from $16.8 million in 2006.
Casino revenues dropped 10.1 percent, food and beverage fell 12.1 percent, and hotel revenue fell 8.4 percent for the three months ended Dec. 31.
"The challenges presented by the current economy have eroded consumer confidence," said Mike Hessling, president of 155 East Tropicana, LLC, Hooters' parent company, during a conference call Tuesday. "It has caused certain customers to reduce their spending on leisure and entertainment."
States taxable sales plummet 5% in January '08
Nevada's funding problems worsened Friday when the state Department of Taxation announced that taxable sales for January plunged nearly 5 percent from the year before, the biggest drop of the state's current economic slowdown.
Every major component of the taxable sales base was down in January, from auto sales to restaurant purchases.
In a separate report issued Friday on Nevada's February unemployment rate, Bill Anderson, chief economist for the Nevada Department of Employment, Training & Rehabilitation, suggested that an upswing in the economy isn't expected immediately.
Governor Gibbons Dealing With Major Budget Cuts
Concerns are mounting that the $900 million state budget crisis could get worse. Thursday Governor Jim Gibbons was in town and he outlined how he intends to decide what to cut.
So far the conventional wisdom has been correct, it's going to get worse before it gets better. The governor said some departments will be spared from further cuts, while everyone had better get used to the same old, same old everywhere else.
K-12, public safety, corrections and juvenile justice. Should it stay or should it go? These are the decisions haunting Governor Gibbons. $900 million is looming and more programs want more money than ever before.
Nevada governor says budget shortfall is nearly $900 million
CARSON CITY, Nev. — Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons said Monday that the state's budget shortfall could reach $900 million by mid-2009 and he'll work with legislators to find more ways of reducing spending beyond the 4.5 percent cutbacks he ordered in January.
After two closed-door meetings with both Democratic and Republican lawmakers, the GOP governor also told reporters that he hopes to avoid layoffs of state workers. However, there's still a possibility of additional budget cuts of up to 3 percent for some agencies next fiscal year.
The projected $900 million shortfall amounts to 13 percent of the nearly $7 billion state budget approved last year for the current two-year budget cycle, which runs through June 2009 - and if the revenue slump continues, the shortfall estimate will grow even larger.
City of Las Vegas Faces Historic Budget Deficit
The city of Las Vegas is in the red and facing one of the largest budget deficits in city history. The mayor and the council called an emergency meeting to come up with solutions.The city finance director says the Las Vegas housing market and consumer spending are in a recession although overall the city is not in one yet. Still, it means huge cuts that will affect every department and Las Vegas residents waiting longer for services.
"Only an idiot would say that everything is going to be hunky dorey. It is not. We are just going to have to do what we can with the money that we have," said Mayor Oscar Goodman.
So, where does Las Vegas go from here?
For lack of better words than those I've already written, I'm going to repost some of my closing thoughts from a December 07 Las Vegas Housing Bubble Post, as they still apply
Las Vegas’s economy has been completely dependent on the discretionary spending of vacationers (Airlines, Hotels, Restaurants, Shows, Gambling, Drinking, Strip Clubs, etc) and the city lacks any real or substantial diversification. When tourism & discretionary spending finally start to decline (due to National negative savings rates, rising inflation and falling home values), gaming revenues will drop, hotel occupancy rates will fall, and thousands of layoffs will follow.
Those locals who find themselves unemployed will quickly find that they have very limited options, as the entire hotel & gaming industry will be feeling the same economic pains. The lack of industry diversification in the city will be a killer!
Currently, with housing values falling, the wealth effect is under strain and many people are having difficulty understanding what has happened to the housing market, while most are still holding on to the false hope it will recover somewhat quickly.
In the meantime, these folks have a mortgage that must get paid, all while coping with higher gas, food prices, tuition, insurance, energy bills, etc. Many are already strained to the max and the black hole of upcoming teaser rate mortgage resets will finally set them over the edge. (Note: refinancing will not be an option for those who have purchased within the last 3 years because they are already underwater; additionally many who have owned for decades used the cheap rates and housing boom to extract available equity--to live beyond their means; so they too cannot refinance).
This same issue is beginning to impact millions from across the nation!!!
Additionally, the home ATM machine that people used to draw money out of regularly has finally dried up, so they have ended up resorting back to the credit cards (the same ones they paid off with that home equity line of credit last year) just to make daily ends meet.
This is going to end horribly (on a national scale)!
BOTTOM LINE: When tourism starts to wane, due to people running out of discretionary cash, gaming/hotel industry layoffs will follow, cascading the impacts of the already doomed Valley housing market, as more locals will be unable to meet their monthly mortgage obligations.
Reduced spending levels, increasing layoffs, magnified home foreclosures and tightening credit conditions will cause a doubly painful domino effect on the Commercial real estate market and in due time, the impacts will be extremely painful to the entire economy. .. State Tax revenues will fall, budget cuts will follow and the increasing number of government layoffs will only exacerbate/compound the situation.
I think one of my readers summarized the situation best: “ Las Vegas lives off the margin. Good times, fat margins; lean times, no margin. LV has no plan B, there's nothing to take up the slack from a decrease in visitor volume. Even dollar rich foreigners aren't going to hold up employment that is based on a volume service industry and housing construction.”
Randy
Saturday, December 01, 2007
Las Vegas Housing Bubble Update
I’ve lived in Las Vegas for 12 years and had the rare opportunity to watch our Valley housing market explode with the largest, quickest, most irrationally exuberant run up in prices ever witnessed (back in 2005 Lost Wages {Vegas} was rated the fastest growing city in the US and housing prices better than doubled in less than five years).
Knowing that prices were rapidly rising and with interest rates soon to rise, I started (in late 2003) seriously researching housing issues. Eventually I decided to act on my basic understanding of the problem and ultimately sold my home late in the mania phase (end of 2004--just a bit early, but no one can pick THE top), and made out quite well.
Later, though completely out of the housing ownership market and now renting, I continued on with my voracious research and gained a much better understanding of the myriad of complex economic issues that impacted this housing bubble. I eventually tried to pass my knowledge on to those around me, but to many, I was merely a gibbering lunatic who didn’t know what the heck he was talking about. In due time, I became frustrated with my unsuccessful attempts in convincing these media-hyped & fed, brainwashed individuals, so I decided to take to the web--to possibly help others who were themselves trying to understand the developing situation. Ultimately, I started this Blog back in December 2005 with my first post.
Though I didn’t specifically target Las Vegas’s housing bubble in my routine posts, I did occasionally address this booming Valley bubble market (see links below):
Las Vegas—A House of Cards Bound to fall
Las Vegas Housing Inventory Breaks 20,000 Mark
Las Vegas Housing Party is Nearly Over
Today’s post (LV housing bubble update) is based on recent developments in the market, so please allow me to share with you some new data and current media releases that (I believe anyway) irrefutably prove that my Las Vegas bubble predictions have been correct (thus far anyway—as we have much farther to deflate):
REAL ESTATE COMPANIES GOING BANKRUPT:
Prudential Americana Group Filed For Bankruptcy
Nov 28, 07: Prudential Americana Group, one of the largest residential real estate firms in the Las Vegas Valley, is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy so it can reorganize its debts while continuing operations.
Prudential Americana is the second big Las Vegas realty firm to seek bankruptcy protection in recent months.
Jimmy Dague, president of Vision Properties doing business as Century 21 Advantage Gold, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in August 07.
Knowing that prices were rapidly rising and with interest rates soon to rise, I started (in late 2003) seriously researching housing issues. Eventually I decided to act on my basic understanding of the problem and ultimately sold my home late in the mania phase (end of 2004--just a bit early, but no one can pick THE top), and made out quite well.
Later, though completely out of the housing ownership market and now renting, I continued on with my voracious research and gained a much better understanding of the myriad of complex economic issues that impacted this housing bubble. I eventually tried to pass my knowledge on to those around me, but to many, I was merely a gibbering lunatic who didn’t know what the heck he was talking about. In due time, I became frustrated with my unsuccessful attempts in convincing these media-hyped & fed, brainwashed individuals, so I decided to take to the web--to possibly help others who were themselves trying to understand the developing situation. Ultimately, I started this Blog back in December 2005 with my first post.
Though I didn’t specifically target Las Vegas’s housing bubble in my routine posts, I did occasionally address this booming Valley bubble market (see links below):
Las Vegas—A House of Cards Bound to fall
Las Vegas Housing Inventory Breaks 20,000 Mark
Las Vegas Housing Party is Nearly Over
Today’s post (LV housing bubble update) is based on recent developments in the market, so please allow me to share with you some new data and current media releases that (I believe anyway) irrefutably prove that my Las Vegas bubble predictions have been correct (thus far anyway—as we have much farther to deflate):
REAL ESTATE COMPANIES GOING BANKRUPT:
Prudential Americana Group Filed For Bankruptcy
Nov 28, 07: Prudential Americana Group, one of the largest residential real estate firms in the Las Vegas Valley, is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy so it can reorganize its debts while continuing operations.
Prudential Americana is the second big Las Vegas realty firm to seek bankruptcy protection in recent months.
Jimmy Dague, president of Vision Properties doing business as Century 21 Advantage Gold, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in August 07.
NEVADA FIRST IN PREFORECLOSURES:
Nevada First in Preforeclosures
Nov 27: Nevada leads the nation in the actual number of preforeclosure filings through October with 40.5 preforeclosure filings per 1,000 households.
Nevada had 30,276 preforeclosure filings through October, an increase of 106 percent from last year. The state's per capita rate of 4.05 tops Florida (2.86), Arizona (2.05) and Colorado (2.04).
Foreclosures.com also showed Nevada was No. 1 in real estate owned filings, or properties owned by the lender, at 10,703 through October, or 1.45 per capita. Real estate owned filings climbed to 54,418 nationwide in October, up 24 percent from 43,941 in September.
The numbers are grim for hundreds of thousands of homeowners trapped by rising mortgage payments, stagnant home prices and tightened credit markets, Foreclosures.com President Alexis McGee said.
31,000+ Clark County Foreclosures
Based on Realtytrac Data, > 31,000 homes in Clark County are in some state of foreclosure
FUTURE WEAKENING EXPECTED:
Mortgage Meltdown
Nov 28: U.S. homebuilders meeting in Las Vegas said the housing market probably will weaken in 2008 as foreclosures rise and banks tighten lending standards.
Demand has deteriorated in many markets, limiting the prospect of a rebound in new home sales, chief executive officers for D.R. Horton and Beazer Homes USA said Tuesday at a JPMorgan Chase & Co. conference at Mandalay Bay.
Next year "is going to be worse than '07 for us and for the industry in general," said Donald Tomnitz, CEO of Fort Worth, Texas-based D.R. Horton, the fourth-largest U.S. homebuilder.
The housing slump that began in 2005 has erased about $36 billion in stock market value for the largest 15 homebuilders this year through Monday. New home sales dropped 23 percent in the year through September.
California and Florida housing markets continue to weaken and the Las Vegas market is "soft," Tomnitz said. New home sales in Phoenix will likely worsen in 2008, he said.
MEDIAN PRICES FALLING; INVENTORY GROWING YoY:
Existing home sales (median prices)
Based on Housingtracker.net Data, existing home inventories have increased >25% and median prices have dropped >10% YoY
HOMEBUILDERS DESPERATE; SLASHING PRICES:
Ryland reduces prices; Deep Discounts
Every Ryland Homes community across the United States will offer special savings on quick move-in homes during the Ryland Homes Savings Spectacular Nov. 9-11, said Dana Rogers, Ryland's vice president of sales and marketing.
The builder will offer unprecedented savings at all of its communities, including those in the Las Vegas area, Rogers said.
"It takes a lot to impress today's home buyer," Rogers said. "That's why we're going big and offering savings of up to 25 percent or more off the base price of the home."
Rogers gave specific examples illustrating the extent of the discounts. At the Providence community, the price of the Pearl residence, home site No. 199 in the Auburn Collection, will be reduced from $442,990 to $316,990 -- a savings of $126,000, he said. The Angora residence, home site No 167 in the Ellingwood neighborhood at Mountain Edge, will be reduced from $541,790 to $393,790 for a savings of $148,000, he said.
Lennar Real Deal—HUGE REDUCTIONS MUST SEE (Very Small Sample Below)
Nevada First in Preforeclosures
Nov 27: Nevada leads the nation in the actual number of preforeclosure filings through October with 40.5 preforeclosure filings per 1,000 households.
Nevada had 30,276 preforeclosure filings through October, an increase of 106 percent from last year. The state's per capita rate of 4.05 tops Florida (2.86), Arizona (2.05) and Colorado (2.04).
Foreclosures.com also showed Nevada was No. 1 in real estate owned filings, or properties owned by the lender, at 10,703 through October, or 1.45 per capita. Real estate owned filings climbed to 54,418 nationwide in October, up 24 percent from 43,941 in September.
The numbers are grim for hundreds of thousands of homeowners trapped by rising mortgage payments, stagnant home prices and tightened credit markets, Foreclosures.com President Alexis McGee said.
31,000+ Clark County Foreclosures
Based on Realtytrac Data, > 31,000 homes in Clark County are in some state of foreclosure
FUTURE WEAKENING EXPECTED:
Mortgage Meltdown
Nov 28: U.S. homebuilders meeting in Las Vegas said the housing market probably will weaken in 2008 as foreclosures rise and banks tighten lending standards.
Demand has deteriorated in many markets, limiting the prospect of a rebound in new home sales, chief executive officers for D.R. Horton and Beazer Homes USA said Tuesday at a JPMorgan Chase & Co. conference at Mandalay Bay.
Next year "is going to be worse than '07 for us and for the industry in general," said Donald Tomnitz, CEO of Fort Worth, Texas-based D.R. Horton, the fourth-largest U.S. homebuilder.
The housing slump that began in 2005 has erased about $36 billion in stock market value for the largest 15 homebuilders this year through Monday. New home sales dropped 23 percent in the year through September.
California and Florida housing markets continue to weaken and the Las Vegas market is "soft," Tomnitz said. New home sales in Phoenix will likely worsen in 2008, he said.
MEDIAN PRICES FALLING; INVENTORY GROWING YoY:
Existing home sales (median prices)
Based on Housingtracker.net Data, existing home inventories have increased >25% and median prices have dropped >10% YoY
HOMEBUILDERS DESPERATE; SLASHING PRICES:
Ryland reduces prices; Deep Discounts
Every Ryland Homes community across the United States will offer special savings on quick move-in homes during the Ryland Homes Savings Spectacular Nov. 9-11, said Dana Rogers, Ryland's vice president of sales and marketing.
The builder will offer unprecedented savings at all of its communities, including those in the Las Vegas area, Rogers said.
"It takes a lot to impress today's home buyer," Rogers said. "That's why we're going big and offering savings of up to 25 percent or more off the base price of the home."
Rogers gave specific examples illustrating the extent of the discounts. At the Providence community, the price of the Pearl residence, home site No. 199 in the Auburn Collection, will be reduced from $442,990 to $316,990 -- a savings of $126,000, he said. The Angora residence, home site No 167 in the Ellingwood neighborhood at Mountain Edge, will be reduced from $541,790 to $393,790 for a savings of $148,000, he said.
Lennar Real Deal—HUGE REDUCTIONS MUST SEE (Very Small Sample Below)
REAL ESTATE: Everything must go
Builders are sparing little expense in a bid to entice hesitant buyers into a soft housing market.
Virtually every major builder in the Las Vegas Valley has pushed big sales this fall, and the price breaks have been steep.
Pulte Homes marked down prices 15 percent on certain models, with discounts of up to $80,000 on some completed new homes during one October weekend. The builder's Del Webb subsidiary sliced $55,000 from some of its asking prices. Rhodes Homes has offered as much as $100,000 off on finished houses. Lennar Corp. has slashed prices on some models by about a third; Lennar cut the cost of a 5,000-square-foot home in its Earlstone community from $911,490 to $662,490, and a 4,498-square-foot home in its Silver Creek subdivision went from $807,290 to $612,290. Centex Homes has clipped $25,000 to $100,000 off the prices of some of its existing homes, and is ponying up as much as $21,000 in closing costs on some models. American West Homes' valleywide "liquidation sale" on Nov. 10 and Nov. 11 featured savings of up to $143,000.
After Astoria Homes dropped prices on standing inventory by as much as $200,000, or 27 percent, Oct. 12-14, traffic at least doubled across the board at Astoria communities, and even tripled in some cases, said Tom McCormick, the company's president.
SLOWING CONSTRUCTION:
Data signal slowing construction
Southern Nevada's construction industry showed more signs of slowing in the third quarter, the Las Vegas chapter of Associated General Contractors reported.
Taxable construction spending fell 14.8 percent over the past 12 months to $3.13 billion, largely a result of declining residential building permits. After three years of high-volume development, Las Vegas has experienced a 46 percent drop in single-family permits and 56 percent drop in multifamily permits.
Clark County has the nation's sixth-highest foreclosure rate and has one of the highest concentrations of subprime and adjustable-rate mortgages, the AGC market brief noted. Many housing analysts suggest the trend will worsen in the next 12 months as some 2 million mortgages nationwide reset to higher interest rates.
Construction employment fell 1.2 percent from a year ago to 108,500 in September, representing 11.6 percent of Southern Nevada's total employment base.
TAX REVENUE FALLING:
Nevada Taxable Retail sales falling
Taxable sales in Nevada faltered yet again in September, marking the sixth straight monthly slide in a key revenue generator for state government.
Thursday's report showed a statewide 1.5 percent drop compared with September 2006, tabbed to the housing slump as well as a growing reluctance overall to spend.
"People may not have as much discretionary money. That's how I read it," state economist Jim Shabi said.
Taxable sales are the state's biggest source of revenue, and the Department of Taxation report shows the general fund portion of the state budget is down $24.4 million, or 2.3 percent, from Economic Forum projections a third of the way into the 2008 fiscal year.
Collections on business tax and license fees as well as excise taxes also are lagging, the report showed.
Last month, Gov. Jim Gibbons directed state agency heads to prepare contingency plans to cut spending by 8 percent.
State Tax Revenue off the mark
CARSON CITY -- State government's financial woes worsened Thursday, when the Department of Taxation released reports showing tax revenue falling further behind projections.
Revenues from four major taxes -- sales, business payroll, insurance and real property -- were below expected levels for July through September, the department announced Thursday.
As a result, Gov. Jim Gibbons might have to cut more than the anticipated $285 million from the state's $6.8 billion, two-year budget when he hacks state spending in January. "It is certainly going to make the hole bigger," state Budget Director Andrew Clinger said. Gibbons has refused to identify where he might cut.
Clinger denied that Gibbons has asked state agency directors to request employees voluntarily take two weeks off without pay to avoid layoffs. That option, however, might be gaining favor with department directors, he said. "The departments are looking at anything they can to make the cuts," Clinger said.
SOUTHERN NEVADA ECONOMY: Indicators plummet to '07 low
The downturn in Las Vegas' real estate market, combined with a 5.4 percent decline in gaming revenue for August, dragged the Southern Nevada Index of Leading Economic Indicators to its lowest level of the year.
The October index, based on August data, dropped to 132.67, with six of the 10 series contributing negatively. Its down from 133.46 in September, but remains slightly higher than a year ago. The index has relinquished its gain from the beginning of the year, when it stood at 132.98.
"The Las Vegas economy in August performed at less than a stellar rate," economist Keith Schwer of the Center for Business and Economic Research said.
Residential building permits continue to plummet by more than half and commercial permits are off nearly 20 percent. Taxable sales fell 5.2 percent in August. Housing has "taken a bite out of the robust expansion" of the past few years, he said.
Based on the data above, I hope that you are now inclined to believe that my Las Vegas Housing market forecasts have, thus far, been correct. With that, I would now like to state for the record that I believe Commercial Real Estate is the next bubble to pop.
Builders are sparing little expense in a bid to entice hesitant buyers into a soft housing market.
Virtually every major builder in the Las Vegas Valley has pushed big sales this fall, and the price breaks have been steep.
Pulte Homes marked down prices 15 percent on certain models, with discounts of up to $80,000 on some completed new homes during one October weekend. The builder's Del Webb subsidiary sliced $55,000 from some of its asking prices. Rhodes Homes has offered as much as $100,000 off on finished houses. Lennar Corp. has slashed prices on some models by about a third; Lennar cut the cost of a 5,000-square-foot home in its Earlstone community from $911,490 to $662,490, and a 4,498-square-foot home in its Silver Creek subdivision went from $807,290 to $612,290. Centex Homes has clipped $25,000 to $100,000 off the prices of some of its existing homes, and is ponying up as much as $21,000 in closing costs on some models. American West Homes' valleywide "liquidation sale" on Nov. 10 and Nov. 11 featured savings of up to $143,000.
After Astoria Homes dropped prices on standing inventory by as much as $200,000, or 27 percent, Oct. 12-14, traffic at least doubled across the board at Astoria communities, and even tripled in some cases, said Tom McCormick, the company's president.
SLOWING CONSTRUCTION:
Data signal slowing construction
Southern Nevada's construction industry showed more signs of slowing in the third quarter, the Las Vegas chapter of Associated General Contractors reported.
Taxable construction spending fell 14.8 percent over the past 12 months to $3.13 billion, largely a result of declining residential building permits. After three years of high-volume development, Las Vegas has experienced a 46 percent drop in single-family permits and 56 percent drop in multifamily permits.
Clark County has the nation's sixth-highest foreclosure rate and has one of the highest concentrations of subprime and adjustable-rate mortgages, the AGC market brief noted. Many housing analysts suggest the trend will worsen in the next 12 months as some 2 million mortgages nationwide reset to higher interest rates.
Construction employment fell 1.2 percent from a year ago to 108,500 in September, representing 11.6 percent of Southern Nevada's total employment base.
TAX REVENUE FALLING:
Nevada Taxable Retail sales falling
Taxable sales in Nevada faltered yet again in September, marking the sixth straight monthly slide in a key revenue generator for state government.
Thursday's report showed a statewide 1.5 percent drop compared with September 2006, tabbed to the housing slump as well as a growing reluctance overall to spend.
"People may not have as much discretionary money. That's how I read it," state economist Jim Shabi said.
Taxable sales are the state's biggest source of revenue, and the Department of Taxation report shows the general fund portion of the state budget is down $24.4 million, or 2.3 percent, from Economic Forum projections a third of the way into the 2008 fiscal year.
Collections on business tax and license fees as well as excise taxes also are lagging, the report showed.
Last month, Gov. Jim Gibbons directed state agency heads to prepare contingency plans to cut spending by 8 percent.
State Tax Revenue off the mark
CARSON CITY -- State government's financial woes worsened Thursday, when the Department of Taxation released reports showing tax revenue falling further behind projections.
Revenues from four major taxes -- sales, business payroll, insurance and real property -- were below expected levels for July through September, the department announced Thursday.
As a result, Gov. Jim Gibbons might have to cut more than the anticipated $285 million from the state's $6.8 billion, two-year budget when he hacks state spending in January. "It is certainly going to make the hole bigger," state Budget Director Andrew Clinger said. Gibbons has refused to identify where he might cut.
Clinger denied that Gibbons has asked state agency directors to request employees voluntarily take two weeks off without pay to avoid layoffs. That option, however, might be gaining favor with department directors, he said. "The departments are looking at anything they can to make the cuts," Clinger said.
SOUTHERN NEVADA ECONOMY: Indicators plummet to '07 low
The downturn in Las Vegas' real estate market, combined with a 5.4 percent decline in gaming revenue for August, dragged the Southern Nevada Index of Leading Economic Indicators to its lowest level of the year.
The October index, based on August data, dropped to 132.67, with six of the 10 series contributing negatively. Its down from 133.46 in September, but remains slightly higher than a year ago. The index has relinquished its gain from the beginning of the year, when it stood at 132.98.
"The Las Vegas economy in August performed at less than a stellar rate," economist Keith Schwer of the Center for Business and Economic Research said.
Residential building permits continue to plummet by more than half and commercial permits are off nearly 20 percent. Taxable sales fell 5.2 percent in August. Housing has "taken a bite out of the robust expansion" of the past few years, he said.
Based on the data above, I hope that you are now inclined to believe that my Las Vegas Housing market forecasts have, thus far, been correct. With that, I would now like to state for the record that I believe Commercial Real Estate is the next bubble to pop.
COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE BUBBLE WILL BE THE NEXT TO POP:
Commercial Real Estate Bubble Economicrot
Back in early 2006, my Blog was mentioned in a BusinessWeek article discussing the fact that there were many folks ranting about the housing market bubble, but few thought that there was a Commercial Real Estate bubble. I quickly fired back that we would, in due time, see this one pop too. Though, at the time, I did feel we would be in a recession by now and that Commercial Property would have already followed suit, I do believe the first signs have finally appeared and the Commercial Property Bubble is ready to let out some major pressure.
Commercial Real Estate next: WSJ & Calculated Risk
The value of commercial real estate, which nearly doubled in the past seven years, is now starting to decline due to the credit crunch, according to a report set to be released today by Moody's Investors Service.
The report found that the value of commercial property declined 1.2% in September from the previous month. Particularly hard hit were apartments in the West and office property in most states other than California.
The report is an early sign that the commercial-property sector is being dragged down by the growing reluctance of lenders to extend credit for anything related to real estate.
Historically the Commercial real estate market trails the residential real estate market by about a year and half. So it appears the CRE slump is right on schedule
Commercial Real Estate next
Nov. 28 (Bloomberg) -- In the bond market, commercial property investors are about as creditworthy as U.S. homeowners with subprime mortgages.
``Commercial real estate is a full-blown bubble that feels very much at a bursting point,'' said Christian Stracke, an analyst in London at CreditSights Inc., a fixed-income research firm. ``There's a fairly toxic mix of factors at work.''
The cost of derivatives protecting investors from defaults on the highest-rated bonds backed by properties more than doubled in the past month, according to Markit Group Ltd. Prices suggest traders anticipate defaults rising to the highest level since the Great Depression, according to analysts at RBS Greenwich Capital in Greenwich, Connecticut.
The seven-year rally in offices and retail properties ended in September when prices fell an average of 1.2 percent, according to Moody's Investors Service. Banks worldwide are holding $54 billion of unsold commercial mortgages, according to data compiled by New York-based Citigroup Inc. that includes fixed and floating-rate debt.
SUMMARY/WRAPUP:
Growth in LV has been absolutely phenomenal over the last decade--a decade of prosperity driven by cheap credit (both business and personal) and rising asset values, creating a consumer wealth effect and influencing a carefree lifestyle. People (both local and tourist) had lots of cheap, easy money and access to huge credit lines if they needed more to spend in the City of Sin (all in the name of having a good time and living for the here and now). That is however coming to an end! Credit has started to dry up, (right now it is mainly influencing mortgage credit--months from now it will impact a myriad of other areas—Commercial credit, Car loans, Credit Cards, etc) and the huge party bills are coming due.
As stated in previous posts, Las Vegas’s economy has been completely dependent on the discretionary spending of vacationers (Airlines, Hotels, Restaurants, Shows, Gambling, Drinking, Strip Clubs, etc) and the city lacks any real or substantial diversification. When tourism & discretionary spending finally start to decline (due to National negative savings rates, rising inflation and falling home values), gaming revenues will drop, hotel occupancy rates will fall, and thousands of layoffs will follow.
Those locals who find themselves unemployed will quickly find that they have very limited options, as the entire hotel & gaming industry will be feeling the same economic pains. The lack of industry diversification in the city will be a killer!
Currently, with housing values falling, the wealth effect is under strain and many people are having difficulty understanding what has happened to the housing market, while most are still holding on to the false hope it will recover somewhat quickly. In the meantime, these folks have a mortgage that must get paid, all while coping with higher gas, food prices, tuition, insurance, energy bills, etc. Many are already strained to the max and the black hole of upcoming teaser rate mortgage resets will finally set them over the edge. (Note: refinancing will not be an option for those who have purchased within the last 3 years because they are already underwater; additionally many who have owned for decades used the cheap rates and housing boom to extract available equity--to live beyond their means; so they too cannot refinance). This same problem is beginning to impact millions from across the nation!!!
Additionally, the home ATM machine that people used to draw money out of regularly has finally dried up, so they have ended up resorting back to the credit cards (the same ones they paid off with that home equity line of credit last year) just to make daily ends meet. This is going to end horribly!!!
BOTTOM LINE: When tourism starts to wane, due to people running out of discretionary cash, gaming/hotel industry layoffs will follow, cascading the impacts of the already doomed Valley housing market, as more locals will be unable to meet their monthly mortgage obligations. Reduced spending levels, increasing layoffs, magnified home foreclosures and tightening credit conditions will cause a doubly painful domino effect on the Commercial real estate market and in due time, the impacts will be extremely painful to the entire economy. State Tax revenues will tank, crys for budget cuts will prevail and the government layoffs to follow will only exacerbate/compound the situation.
I think one of my readers summarized the situation best: “ Las Vegas lives off the margin. Good times, fat margins; lean times, no margin. LV has no plan B, there's nothing to take up the slack from a decrease in visitor volume. Even dollar rich foreigners aren't going to hold up employment that is based on a volume service industry and housing construction.”
Guess only the future will tell...
Regards
Commercial Real Estate Bubble Economicrot
Back in early 2006, my Blog was mentioned in a BusinessWeek article discussing the fact that there were many folks ranting about the housing market bubble, but few thought that there was a Commercial Real Estate bubble. I quickly fired back that we would, in due time, see this one pop too. Though, at the time, I did feel we would be in a recession by now and that Commercial Property would have already followed suit, I do believe the first signs have finally appeared and the Commercial Property Bubble is ready to let out some major pressure.
Commercial Real Estate next: WSJ & Calculated Risk
The value of commercial real estate, which nearly doubled in the past seven years, is now starting to decline due to the credit crunch, according to a report set to be released today by Moody's Investors Service.
The report found that the value of commercial property declined 1.2% in September from the previous month. Particularly hard hit were apartments in the West and office property in most states other than California.
The report is an early sign that the commercial-property sector is being dragged down by the growing reluctance of lenders to extend credit for anything related to real estate.
Historically the Commercial real estate market trails the residential real estate market by about a year and half. So it appears the CRE slump is right on schedule
Commercial Real Estate next
Nov. 28 (Bloomberg) -- In the bond market, commercial property investors are about as creditworthy as U.S. homeowners with subprime mortgages.
``Commercial real estate is a full-blown bubble that feels very much at a bursting point,'' said Christian Stracke, an analyst in London at CreditSights Inc., a fixed-income research firm. ``There's a fairly toxic mix of factors at work.''
The cost of derivatives protecting investors from defaults on the highest-rated bonds backed by properties more than doubled in the past month, according to Markit Group Ltd. Prices suggest traders anticipate defaults rising to the highest level since the Great Depression, according to analysts at RBS Greenwich Capital in Greenwich, Connecticut.
The seven-year rally in offices and retail properties ended in September when prices fell an average of 1.2 percent, according to Moody's Investors Service. Banks worldwide are holding $54 billion of unsold commercial mortgages, according to data compiled by New York-based Citigroup Inc. that includes fixed and floating-rate debt.
SUMMARY/WRAPUP:
Growth in LV has been absolutely phenomenal over the last decade--a decade of prosperity driven by cheap credit (both business and personal) and rising asset values, creating a consumer wealth effect and influencing a carefree lifestyle. People (both local and tourist) had lots of cheap, easy money and access to huge credit lines if they needed more to spend in the City of Sin (all in the name of having a good time and living for the here and now). That is however coming to an end! Credit has started to dry up, (right now it is mainly influencing mortgage credit--months from now it will impact a myriad of other areas—Commercial credit, Car loans, Credit Cards, etc) and the huge party bills are coming due.
As stated in previous posts, Las Vegas’s economy has been completely dependent on the discretionary spending of vacationers (Airlines, Hotels, Restaurants, Shows, Gambling, Drinking, Strip Clubs, etc) and the city lacks any real or substantial diversification. When tourism & discretionary spending finally start to decline (due to National negative savings rates, rising inflation and falling home values), gaming revenues will drop, hotel occupancy rates will fall, and thousands of layoffs will follow.
Those locals who find themselves unemployed will quickly find that they have very limited options, as the entire hotel & gaming industry will be feeling the same economic pains. The lack of industry diversification in the city will be a killer!
Currently, with housing values falling, the wealth effect is under strain and many people are having difficulty understanding what has happened to the housing market, while most are still holding on to the false hope it will recover somewhat quickly. In the meantime, these folks have a mortgage that must get paid, all while coping with higher gas, food prices, tuition, insurance, energy bills, etc. Many are already strained to the max and the black hole of upcoming teaser rate mortgage resets will finally set them over the edge. (Note: refinancing will not be an option for those who have purchased within the last 3 years because they are already underwater; additionally many who have owned for decades used the cheap rates and housing boom to extract available equity--to live beyond their means; so they too cannot refinance). This same problem is beginning to impact millions from across the nation!!!
Additionally, the home ATM machine that people used to draw money out of regularly has finally dried up, so they have ended up resorting back to the credit cards (the same ones they paid off with that home equity line of credit last year) just to make daily ends meet. This is going to end horribly!!!
BOTTOM LINE: When tourism starts to wane, due to people running out of discretionary cash, gaming/hotel industry layoffs will follow, cascading the impacts of the already doomed Valley housing market, as more locals will be unable to meet their monthly mortgage obligations. Reduced spending levels, increasing layoffs, magnified home foreclosures and tightening credit conditions will cause a doubly painful domino effect on the Commercial real estate market and in due time, the impacts will be extremely painful to the entire economy. State Tax revenues will tank, crys for budget cuts will prevail and the government layoffs to follow will only exacerbate/compound the situation.
I think one of my readers summarized the situation best: “ Las Vegas lives off the margin. Good times, fat margins; lean times, no margin. LV has no plan B, there's nothing to take up the slack from a decrease in visitor volume. Even dollar rich foreigners aren't going to hold up employment that is based on a volume service industry and housing construction.”
Guess only the future will tell...
Regards
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