The latest venture by media and entertainment mogul Robert F.X. Sillerman, FX Real Estate and Entertainment, has unveiled plans to develop the acreage it holds at Las Vegas Blvd. and Harmon Ave. in Las Vegas, in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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The Las Vegas County Commission has approved the site development plan and special use permit for The Plaza, Las Vegas, providing the developer, ELAD IDB Las Vegas L.L.C., with all the entitlements needed to move forward with the project.

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Two months after Deutsche Bank presented Cosmopolitan Resort and Casino developer 3700 Associates L.L.C. with a notice of loan default, the foreclosure process on the $3 billion project has gotten underway.

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SDS Investments L.L.C. has wrapped up the acquisition of 110 acres of land along the Las Vegas Strip, where the pool of developable parcels is greatly limited and the prices are sky-high.

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Last Wednesday, July 25^th, Mark Baker, one of our preferred lenders and in the  top 200 mortgage lenders in the United States, held an “Invitation Only” Real Estate Town Meeting where he provided his “never before seen” results of research and personal insight. 

He spoke at great length about the serious issues facing the mortgage industry today caused by loan defaults and foreclosures. Marks research skills are legendary. On a daily basis he spends long hours digging contemplating calculating learning.  Needless to say, his work and analysis are comprehensive and well respected. Some of the most significant information passed on during the meeting was his discussion of why, how, and when the Las Vegas market would rebound. This is the question on everyones mind. Buyer, seller, investor you name it everybody is curious about this all-important answer.

The conclusions and recommendations made by Mark and his special guest, a gentleman considered one of Las Vegas’ strongest sources of real estate information, have illuminated some incredible opportunities for sellers, buyers, and investors too.

Tonight, I am sharing those thoughts on a special seller-only conference call. This conference call will contain critical inside-information that we all need to achieve our goals in this market. Next, we will have a conference call for our buyers and also share this specialized and important information with them.

Additionally, we are working on a new project that is going to be available to our investor clients in the very near future.

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We had our first “State of the Market” phone conference with all our Las Vegas home sellers last week and it was fantastic! Our clients absolutely loved it.  I attended a few conference calls recently and the light-bulb turned on. What an excellent tool to communicate with our clients and keep them informed about the Las Vegas real estate market. These statistics empower our clients to make intelligent decisions regarding their property. We have received two additional offers already from re-focused and re-motivated clients.

I believe it takes this kind of thinking in today’s market to become a success story.After the conference call, I engaged each of my clients in one-on-one conversations. The most common questions were, “When will things turn around for us as a seller in the Las Vegas real estate market?”  And What is going on in the mortgage business? Today I want to address the first question, in my next blog I will address the second.

The market is adjusting to conditions created in the run on real estate during the past six or seven years.  In the late 90s, Las Vegas was an undervalued market when compared to surrounding areas, especially California.  Additionally, Las Vegas is quickly running out of land within its main Valley. Of course we saw prices increase.

Another variable which caused havoc was the “Gold Rush” mentality of investors that came flocking to Las Vegas, buying-up houses in multiples. . . . Looking for a short term hold . . . . And an opportunity to cash in on this previously undervalued market as it was gaining momentum. Almost everybody got caught-up in the buying frenzy.  Home prices sky-rocketed. Builders went wild constructing new homes as fast as they could, trying to cash in on the run-away equity phenomenon.  All of this was something very few, if any, had expected or even predicted.

Until the effects of this incredible run by investors shakes out in the Las Vegas market, things are going to feel stressed.  It’s only natural for it to feel like “the sky is falling” as this market settles back down ¦But once that happens, and it will, we may see another run, albeit nothing like that of the 2004-2005 spike, on home values. Most experts are predicting such a turnaround toward the end of 2008/early 2009.

There are so many factors that are causing me to feel strongly on this point…from the slow-down in permits being pulled by new home builders, to the incredible amount of capital being infused into new developments in Las Vegas ($30 billion alone along the “Strip”), to the thousands of new jobs that are coming late 2008 through early 2010 as a large number of new hotel/casino projects reach completion ¦Las Vegas is still growing rapidly.

Contrary to many gloom and doom reports recently published in local and national media about Las Vegas, I am not so “gloomy” or “doomy.” As markets cycle it is important to keep it all in perspective.  And for many, even in these slower times, great profits are being realized in the sale of Las Vegas homes.

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5 more Harrah’s hotels on Las Vegas Strip getting inspections
San Diego Union Tribune, United States - Mar 24, 2008
AP LAS VEGAS Clark County officials are checking permits and work done at five more Las Vegas Strip hotels, in a review of whether proper inspections were …

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We all know that Las Vegas is famous for its casinos and gambling but the biggest gamble in Las Vegas at the moment is not the craps or blackjack tables NO…. Real estate looks like one of the biggest gambles in Las Vegas at the moment. During the massive Las Vegas real estate revolution, real estate investors helped push the market in Las Vegas [especially the condo sector] prices up 137% above 2000 market prices.

More than 60% of Las Vegas home buyers from January - March took out risky loans that give them the option of paying only the interest or even less each month, according to Loan Performance. I have to say that this is one hell of a risky business and most of the foreclosures we are seeing now are because of this type of risky investment [I would never advise my clients to do this but hey there are plenty of real estate agents in Las Vegas and the U.S. who would and have] The number of condos and houses listed for sale in Las Vegas and its surrounding areas Summerlin, Henderson, Green Valley, Lake Las Vegas and Clark County is up 67% from the previous year. Also there are at least another dozen condo projects under construction some of thee now have been finished and are on the market

At least five condo projects have been cancelled in within the last few months. Sales of single-family homes were down 17% . And with a over a ten month supply of homes up for sale, it’s is most definitely a buyer’s market. Investors are waiting in the background for the foreclosure steam train to gain speed. With banks off loading their bad debt property an influx of quality houses and homes is flooding the market. A perfect time for the first time buyer to step in to the real estate market. a young family could pick up a 400,000 $ home in Clark County with a huge 20 - 30% discount on original purchase price. Meantime, sales of newly built homes, which make up 40% of all sales in Las Vegas. Even with these real estate woes there is a vast market out there and investors see the potential of future cash turnarounds. snapping up bargains left right and center. The wise investor knows if he waits the market will turn recession in to boom. Proof of Las Vegas worth is in the gambling business. Last month, MGM Mirage poured the foundation on Project City enter, a $7.7 billion, 66-acre development with hotels, condos, retail and, of course, a massive casino.

Get on the foreclosure bandwagon before it is too late and we are back in a boom market again. Call me now to get a foreclosure list and get a bargain. You will not see property at this price for long. Jonathan

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Some local housing markets are still booming, a survey suggests Countrywide Financial, the biggest mortgage lender in the US, has reported a 41% fall in home loans in January.Last month, Countrywide funded mortgages totalling $21.9bn (£11.1bn), compared with $37.1bn a year ago, while foreclosures reached record highs. Countrywide said the foreclosure rate among the 9m mortgages for which it collects and processes payments doubled to 1.48%, up from 0.77% a year earlier. Bank of America in January agreed to buy the firm for $4bn (£2bn). Many of the weakest markets have experienced job and population losses Lawrence Yun, economist, National Association of Realtors Homeowners struggle The stark figures show the difficulties emerging in the US housing market are hitting lenders. Countrywide’s foreclosure rate has been steadily rising, from December’s rate of 1.44% and November’s 1.28%. Foreclosure is the legal process taken by mortgage companies when homeowners fail to keep up their loan repayments. The delinquency rate - a measure of missed mortgage payments - rose to 7.47% of unpaid balances from 4.32% percent a year earlier. While the housing market is struggling a survey has suggested that certain areas are more affected than others. Mixed market There have been fears that the troubles in the housing market could send the US into a deep recession, but a National Association of Realtors (NAR) report suggests the gloom may be overdone. RISING HOUSE PRICES Cumberland, Maryland: up 19% Yakima, Washington: up 18% Binghamton, New York: up 14.8% Springfield, Illinois: up 14.4% Atlantic City, New Jersey: up 10.7% Source: National Association of Realtors, annual change The group said prices rose in 73 out of 150 urban areas in the last three months of 2007 from a year earlier. The Cumberland area in rural Maryland saw the most healthy rises, with 10 other areas recording gains of 10% and more, including Yakima in Washington. The median house price for the country fell 5.8% to $206,200 (£105,121) - the sharpest fall since records began in 1979. But the realtors group said the typical seller who purchased their home six years ago still saw a gain of 31.2%. Bright pockets “The healthiest housing markets today generally are moderately priced and are experiencing job growth and often population growth, which in turn is supporting strong price growth,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. FALLING HOUSE PRICES Lansing-East Lansing, Michigan: down 19% Riverside and San Bernadino, California: down 17% Jackson, Mississipi: down 17% Las Vegas, Nevada: down 13% Orlando, Florida: down 11.7% Source: National Association of Realtors, annual change “Most of the weakest markets have either experienced both job and population losses, or they are experiencing corrections following a prolonged period of rapid price growth.” He also blamed falling transactions in sales of more than $417,000, where mortgage repayment rates have been high as a result of the credit crisis, for “dampening the national median price as well as the data for some of the more expensive markets”. Higher limits for large loans from the Federal Housing Association to $729,750 will help “high income, credit-worthy borrowers in high-cost areas”, NAR president Richard Gaylord said.

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Nevada had held the top spot in the nation for foreclosures, and now the Las Vegas Valley is taking center stage in the national spotlight of the problem. The valley has long been ranked in the top five nationally in the rate of foreclosure filings.In December the valley had seven of the top 10 ZIP codes in the nation in foreclosure filings and 16 of the top 20, according to a report by RealtyTrac, a California firm that tracks foreclosures, and CNNMoney.com.A year ago, Detroit and Cleveland had some of the highest foreclosure filings.RealtyTrac blames the growing problem on a large number of subprime mortgages coming due. Subprime loans are for buyers who didn’t have the credit worthiness for a prime loan. Many borrowers used adjustable-rate mortgages to afford homes because prices have risen steeply in recent years. When prices fell, many homeowners could not refinance their loans.

By Brian Wargo / Staff Writer

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