Here is yet another major announcement of another mega resort being planned on the Strip. The Fertitta brothers, who also own and operate the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), are planning a $10 billion casino and resort where the Wild Wild West Casino sits today. This 110 acre parcel is actually not even on the Strip. It sits on the West side of the I-15 freeway. Another glaring example of the ALL the major gambling operators wanting to pound in their stakes and claim their portion of this massive gambling center.

Why is this important to the Las Vegas real estate market?
It is a massively important announcement at a time when it is needed most. The real estate market here in Vegas is in turmoil, at least that is what most of the media want you to believe. The foreclosure rates are huge. The number of vacant houses is off the charts. The gaming industry is on the verge of collapse. Well, not really.

As all of these things are fodder for the folks that don’t really know the true story, but an announcement like this really shows that if you are here and understand the fundamentals, there is not a better time to invest in this marketplace. The amount of jobs this new resort ($2B more than the largest, private capital project in the world, MGM’s Project City Center) will create is a game changer. Las Vegas was already in the midst of the largest job creation phase in its history and this new project, named Viva, will only exasperate a HUGE coming labor shortage that will bring thousands to Las Vegas looking for work.

Take a look at this chart provided by Jeremy Aquero at Applied Analysis in a presentation he did for the Southern Nevada Homebuilders last year. What do you think happens to these bars when Project City Center, Fountainbleu, Echelon, and Encore all open their doors at the end of 2009/beginning of 2010???

The Las Vegas Nevada real estate market is poised for a VERY strong rebound. It is not there quite, though, yet as we have not seen new housing permits start to turn around, but we are very close. As soon as we begin to see two or three months in a row of continued year-over-year growth in new housing permits, then as an investor, you should be back into the game buying. The housing permit expansion is a glaring technical buy indicator for real estate, along with growth in resale pricing. At the moment, these are both still going down or simply stagnate. But don’t expect them to last there much longer.

You also don’t want to be too late in getting back into the investing game here in Las Vegas. Once these indicators catch up with the glaring physicals of job growth coming and capital expenditures, we will be off to the races again.

If you are interested in buying or selling any real estate investment property here in Las Vegas, please feel free to contact me anytime. I am always available and can help anyone looking for investment property find the perfect fit. My cell phone number is 702.400.9986.

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