In December 2007 Las Vegas came close to being average almost matching the national job formation rate of 1 percent.  Not something Vegas with its usual 5 percent job growth economy was accostomed to.  But the state's employment agency reported athat job growth should return to its boomtown form in two years or less.  The state Department of Employment, Training & Rehabilitation said "a developing mega-resort boom, coupled with a likely improvement in the housing sector" will push Nevada's job growth to 5.1 percent in the third quarter of 2010.  That will be up from 1.4 percent in 2007 and 4.7 percent in 2006.  The department's analysis is limited to statewide numbers, so it doesn't offer a separate forecast for Clark County.  Yet the department's chief economist, said job formation in the Las Vegas Valley typicaly surpasses statewide growth.  Logic supports the above average in Las Vegas, especially when you consider the catalyst for a good deal of the state's growth will be the upcoming wave of mega-resorts.  2010 will mark the first full year of operations for some of the biggest new mega-resorts, including City-Center and Fontainebleau.  The 100,000 or positions that new projects will create will boost the Valley's 965,000-worker job base by 10.4 percent.  The opening of several major properties will create substantial demand for employees.  And those new resort workers will spur demand for non-gaming services such as banking, housing, education and health care.  The employment department is forecasting job growth in financial services, transportation, utilities and professional services which include law practices, accounting firms and architecture studios.

The 5 percent annual job creation won't likely return for another two years, the number of new postions should improve on 2007's rate by late 2008.  That's because smaller projects, including the 600-unit Palms Place condo-hotel and the 1,300-unit Trump International Hotel & Tower are planned to open in March, and bigger projects will begin staffing up toward the end of the year for openings in late 2008 and early 2009.

Auctions are becoming an increasingly popular method of purchasing homes in Las Vegas giving today's sluggish marketplace.  Over the past 5 years, residential real estate sold at auction grew by 39%.  It wasn't long ago that auctions were only used to sell foreclosed home, fixer-uppers and other hard-to-sell properties.  Today, all types of properties are sold at auctions.  Many newly constructed homes in Vegas are now being auctioned, including single family residences, condos and townhomes.

There are many benefits to buying a home at auction:  homeowners are committed to selling, so there aren't long negotioation periods, and buyeres can often close on their new home in fewer than 30 days.  Auctions also attract qualified buyers since most auction houses require that potential buyers have financing in place and present written loan approval before the day of the auction..  Importantly, they usually require nonrefundable deposits, typically 10% of the homes's value.

There are 3 primary types of real property auctions.  The absolute auction is where the property is sold to the highest bidder regardless of the price.  The minimum bid auction is where bids are accepted at or above an advertised minimum price.  The reserve auction is where the seller has the right to accept or reject any offer that falls below a confidential reserve price.

Prospective buyers usually have ample opportunity to inspect the property by appointment or at an open house prior to the auction.

Get your bags packed...typically, the auctioning of a home takes less than 10 minutes...how's that for speedy marketing???

Las Vegas has its own way of surviving economic downturns - build more Strip resorts.  Historically Las Vegas Economy rebounds from any economic slump when the Strip goes through a building boom  Observers believe today's extensive Strip makeover will be no exception.  Some 40,000 new hotel rooms are in phases of planning and construction along Las Vegas Boulevard.  That will keep the construction work force employed through 2012.  At completion roughly $30 billion will have been invested and the Strip's room capacity will have increased 30 percent.  Deutsche Bank in a report to investors said the building boom will create upward of 120,000 new jobs.  The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority said the room inventory expansion could boost room tax collections to more than $571 million annually.  Thats 30% higher than the current collections.  Stay tuned for more great statistics and info.

A new change effective January 2008 allows a surviving spouse to exclude up to $500,000 of gain from the sale of their home as long as the sale occurs not later than 2 years after the spouse's death and the survivor has not remaried as of the date of sale.  The earlier rulings allowed couples to exclude $500,000, (individuals to exclude $250,000), as long as the couple was filing a joint return for the year of the sale.  The additional requirements are that the taxpayer owned or used the home as their principle residence for at least 2 of the 5 preceding years.  It is always recommended to consult with a professional tax advisor prior to making any decisions.

The Federal Reserve slashed the federal funds rate on January 22 by three-quarters of a percentage point to 3.5%, the biggest interest rate cut in 18 years.  The federal funds rate is the interest that banks charge one another on overnight loans.

On the same day, the Fed also lowered its discount rate to 4% from 4.75%.  The discount rate is the rate at which banks can borrow directly from the Federal Reserve.  The Fed's twin cuts are designed to keep financial institutions lending money to businesses and consumers, rather tha fuel an ecnomic downturn by limiting credit. 

Falling mortgage rates helped boost mortgage application volume by 8.3% over the same week, the Mortgage Bankers Association said January 24.  Applications were 63.7% higher that during the same week in 2007.  Refinancing accounted for 66% of the mortgage applications.

The news was tonic to the housing market that saw existing home sales fall in 2007.

The Palazzo is the Las Vegas Strip's first new hotel-casino opening since the April 2005 opening of Wynn Las Vegas.  The $1.9 billion Palazzo had a soft opening on New Year's Eve and is celebrating its Grand Opening January 18th thru the 20th, 2008.  Special events including a concert featuring a performance by Motown superstar Diana Ross were scheduled.  The Palazzo is being operated as an extension of the successful Venetian Hotel/Casino.  The properties are connected in many ways.  The two properties are connected by an indoor walkway, share back-of-the-house services.  The path between the new property and The Venetian are lined with non-gaming amenities being likened as the property's "Times Square."  When a large trade show is housed in the Sands Expo and Convention center, thousands of guests can parade between the Palazzzo and The Venetian throughout the day.  Portions of the Palazzo are still  being built.  A 50-story condominimum tower that will house some 300 units is under construction near the Strip.  The Palazzo Theater will feature the Tony Award winning Broadway musical "Jersey Boys" in the Spring.  Celebrity chef, Emeril Lagasse whose successful Delmonico restaurant is in The Venetian will be opening a 2nd restaurant, Table 10, in the Palazzo.  Stay tuned!

You stand a better chance of surviving a heart attack in a Casino than you would inside a hospital.  No, this wasn't put out by the Nevada Resort Association.  The prestigious New England Journal of Medicine is the souce for this bit of information.

According to a study, victims need to get life-saving defibrillation within 2 minutes of suffering a heart attack.  Your odds are better if the attack happens at a Casino!  If you suffer cardiac arrest inside a hospital, you have a 1-in-3 chance of getting defibrillation within the necessary time frame.  However, if the heart attack takes place in a Casino, chances are better that having other people around in the Casino the response time will be quicker, giving the patient a 50% chance for survival.

The Boyd Gaming Corporation was the first local gambling company to introduce defibrillators on Casino floors.

During the past few years, officials and developers have been calling it the "Jewel of the Desert", a place of renaissance, the hub of urban lifestyle, and the "Manhattanization of Las Vegas".  They are all talking about Downtown Las Vegas.  Initial steps toward redevelopment have been taken with new buildings and numerous developement proposals.  Mayor Oscar Goodman says the way he sees it is that it is a tale of two cities.  It is a city as a tourist destination, the Entertainment Capital of the World.  Then there is the second city of 2 million people who are striving to become the next level of a world-class city.  The city has adopted a multi faceted master plan - the Downtown Centenial Plan.  The plan subdivides a 3,948 acre redevelopment area into nine districts.  These districts encourage commercial, residential, and cultural projects. 

The Mayor cites the Union Park development as key to the downtown renaissance  Located on 61 acres of city owned land west of the Union Pacific Railroad tracks and east of Interstate 15,  The Las Vegas Premium Outlet Mall and World Market Center. This will encompass medical buildings, a theater, park, hotels, commercial, retail and residences.  In the coming year a major developer is expected to announce the project's first residential offerings and block of development to be constructed by Newland Communities, the managing company for Union Parks's development.  Design standards that developers must follow state that developers must integrate art somehow in their project.  The U. S. Green Building Council has a rating and qualification system that dertain development, construction and operating parameters have to be met. 

Union Park's customers will have a very large range in age from the Gen Xers to the young single professionals to the empty nesters.  People are going to make a choice to live in Union Park because of the lifestyle offered.  They will be buying based on the promise of buying in an urban environment with the amenities of Union Park.