LAS VEGAS RESIDENTS MAY START THINKING VACATION HOUSE
As Las Vegas’s spring selling season edges toward summer, the allure of vacation houses is more likely to emerge as a front burner issue. The practical rewards of having a second home as a vacation retreat—sometimes one which can also be rented out part-time—is more likely to become an action item as the summer months near. Earlier this month, we learned about some national trends in a report that detailed the numbers from last year. The NAR® released the summary which went into detail about 2015’s vacation house purchases and the buyers who claimed them. Prices across the nation were up significantly, which explained why the volume of year-to-year sales had slightly contracted. Even so, they were still the second strongest since 2006, with more than 900,000 changing hands. More than a third of vacation house buyers intended to use their property for vacations or as a family retreat—roughly twice as many as planned to use it for retirement. The lion’s share were single-family residences, with a quarter preferring condos, and fewer still opting for a townhouse or row house. None of those figures should come as a surprise for Las Vegas readers who are considering the purchase of their own second home. As the rising cost of vacations combines with a seemingly endless escalation in the amount of stress that air travel entails (it’s been called the “anti-vacation” experience), everything seems to argue for practical getaway alternatives. The NAR report showed that typical vacation houses didn’t demand an airport experience. They were distant, but not too distant: the median location was “driving distance” away (about 200 miles). The biggest turnabout came via the median sales price vacation houses rang up for the year. It’s no exaggeration to characterize the rise as “soaring.” The median sales price was $192,000—a massive 28% jump in 2015 prices! They made up 16% of all residential sales transactions for the year, and although that meant a decline from 2015, last year’s volume had comprised a virtual “explosion” (CNN Money’s characterization): an uptick of 57% over 2014. The NAR report also sampled the opinions of the buyers, finding that 80% said they believed that now is a good time to purchase real estate. Since they had just purchased vacation real estate, that doesn’t seem to be much of a surprise—although I do have to admit I agree with them! If you’re inclined to agree, I hope you’ll give me a call. Right now Las Vegas’s market has a wide roster of great offerings at prices for every budget!
LAS VEGAS HOMES FOR SALE THINK FOOD
It’s interesting to look into how many ways the universe of food —be it restaurants, markets, cooking, gardening or eating—intersects with the world of real estate. The connections are many and important. That’s true from the moment a future Las Vegas homeowner begins to look into the current crop of Las Vegas homes for sale. We commonly think about residential real estate predominantly in terms of shelter. The listed homes for sale are vying to become the roof over our head; the place where the family will be blissfully protected from the elements. But since it will also be the place where we prepare our meals, store the groceries, and experience the holiday celebrations and feasts that will be remembered forever as key moments in our family’s life together. Food is central to all these things—it’s why homes for sale that can claim superior kitchens have a clear advantage over those with cramped layouts or dated appliances. The popularity of formal dining rooms may be waning, but the importance of the kitchen has never been more pronounced. Interestingly, large, showy kitchens don’t always get the highest marks from experienced family head chefs. For some, a more compact layout that creates an efficient “work triangle” (the imaginary line connecting cook top, sink, and refrigerator) can win favor by saving steps—and time. In any case, most Americans think of the kitchen as the house’s nerve center around which family life revolves. And in the summertime, when the action moves outside, an extra advantage goes to the homes for sale that have patios or decks that look ideal for outdoor grilling. It is also true that for even the most dedicated amateur chefs, hectic workday schedules can mean that cookery of any kind is forced into becoming a strictly weekend pursuit. For those whose professional lives make that an unavoidable reality, a property’s proximity to quality Las Vegas dining outlets can be a major selling point. One way alert homeowners take advantage of that is by preparing a list of their favorite local eateries—or even by prominently displaying a collection of current take-out menus from nearby restaurants. When you think about it, it makes good sense to take a look at the ways homes for sale in Las Vegas can make the food connection part of their marketing approach. Call me for a rundown of some of the other lifestyle elements that we can use to demonstrate to prospective buyers how readily your property can fit into their vision of what a treasured home should be.
LAS VEGAS MORTGAGE RATES FRIDAYS NEWS ITS ALL CONNECTED
One way or another, it’s all connected. Last week ended with what some observers justifiably called a “shocking” development—one that could impact Las Vegas’s home buyers and sellers measurably—at least in the short run. It came with the release of the employment statistics from the Department of Labor. They weren’t good numbers. But the surprisingly weak report might be good news for some home buyers since it could well affect affordability. As I said, it’s all connected. “Affordability” is the index that seeks to summarize in a single number whether or not a typical family would qualify for a mortgage under current economic conditions. When a homeowner in Las Vegas is looking at the state of the market, it’s not a bad indicator for explaining why sales might be rising or falling. Even though the nation’s residential prices have been rising steadily, the Affordability Index has remained better than the historical average. You’d think that when something is more expensive, it would be less affordable—but the contradiction is explainable when mortgage interest rates are taken into account. All across the U.S., very low mortgage interest rates have been more than compensating for higher home price tags. Interest rates near or below the 4% mark tend to make monthly home loan payments eminently affordable. That happy situation can’t last forever, of course; so it’s why anyone with a stake in Las Vegas real estate has reason to watch for changes in mortgage interest rates. If you are thinking of buying a home in Las Vegas, low mortgage interest rates are a strong motivator to get going. If you are thinking of selling, legions of motivated buyers are what you’d hope for. Adding more fuel to the fire had been the growing likelihood that those mortgage interest rates will soon begin to rise—this month, as a matter of fact. Until last Friday, the Federal Reserve governors had been unusually forthright in statements that they were likely to raise lending rates at next week’s meeting. The experts didn’t disagree. Then came Friday’s jobs report, which blew those expectations, if not into the weeds, at least onto the sidewalk.MarketWatch was typical. “Weak job numbers…have essentially taken a June rate increase off the table.” They called the chances for such a move in July “also significantly reduced.” Only hours earlier, the same site had headlined, “Investors are now ready to accept the Fed’s interest-rate hike.” Fortune was equally firm, headlining, “Don’t expect the Fed to Raise Interest Rates This Month.” An earlier article had described financial markets that were raising bets on a June increase following the release of Fed deliberations. Does this new twist make Las Vegas real estate market more or less attractive? The poor labor report might give some pause about the U.S. economy as a whole, but Las Vegas’s continuing low mortgage interest rates certainly counterbalance those concerns. Then there is always the outside chance that the experts are, again, wrong—and the Fed will raise the Funds rate, anyway. This is a realm in which few things are certain. One is that, as previously mentioned, it’s all connected. Second, there’s at least one sure way to take advantage of the best Las Vegas’s real estate market has to offer—calling me!
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