Mesquite Market

New home building permits are up 56% with 351 issued year to date in 2007 and that is not the only thing different here in Mesquite, Nevada from what you hear daily on the national front. 

New home sales are down 49% with only 21 closed and prices are down 7% to $178 per square foot, at least in the local MLS. However, add in the Pulte Del Webb, Sun City Mesquite numbers and sales are up! The best information sources say they have sold 160 to 180 units and closed around 50 of those. The recordings are not showing up in the Clark county records yet and we can only guess at prices per foot, but we believe it is well below the $178 number. They have offered standing, completed units for as little as $125 per square foot. 

Existing single family homes sales were down by 32% with 26 closed units and prices are up 5% to around $186 per square foot. Marketing time or days on market is longer and the number of units to choose from has ballooned. New highs in the inventory available for buyers to pick from are reached almost everyday! 

Town home/condo sales are down 35% with 33 closed and prices are lower by 6% from third quarter of 2006. The average price per square foot dropped from $162 to $152 per square foot and average marketing time reached over 4 months. 

No commercial land or commercial building sales were recorded this quarter. Commercial building permits for new construction are up 200% year to date in 2007 from 10 last year to 30 permits so far this year. Vacancy rates look to be at staggeringly high numbers for retail/office space around town with lots more about to come  online.                                                                               
                                                                                                         

Residential land or vacant lot sales picked up with 4 sales recorded verses 1 during the third quarter of 2006; however the average price dropped by a third. Inventory will be the story here also going forward, with over 70 active listings and whole subdivisions being offered for barely over half the price of two year old appraised prices. Banks are going to end up holding the bag, full of vacant lots. Write downs on these will be huge. It is estimated there are as many as 14,000 platted and approved and as many as 40,000 more planned in the Toquop area north of and adjoining Mesquite in Lincoln County.

During the past twelve months there have been 75 NOD’s (notice of default) recorded with Clark County in Mesquite, these are loans in danger of going into foreclosure. Vacancy rates in residential properties have skyrocketed and the speculators are hurting with no cash flow. Inventory of residential real estate “for sale” at this time stands over 370 available, a new historical high and based on year to date closings represents a one year supply. Newly listed property is exceeding units going out of the system as pending by 6 to 1 year to date. Most of what is going out of the system is in the failed categories, either expired or withdrawn, that likely will be back on the market at some point. Average asking prices per square foot have edged down only slightly on existing units. Builders continue to offer huge incentives to buy new.

This last week I spent considerable time negotiating for a seller, the offer we were working with was well below their asking price. After a couple of counters back and forth we came to a standoff.

During this process we talked about the current market conditions and the seller’s competition in the market. This particular property has been for sale on the market for over a year and has not received a single offer, and the seller is very frustrated.

Some sellers want to be informed, actually most do, and many consider it their responsibility. While others really don’t want to hear about the market facts, they don’t seem to be interested in the truth; they prefer to live in a dreamland of denial.