LAS VEGAS, NV--(Marketwire - Oct 10, 2012) - The Hoffman Company reported a robust $30.2 million in land transactions in the third quarter, reflecting a long-awaited uptick in construction and new home starts here in the Las Vegas area, which are on track to top 6,000 this year, nearly double that of 2011.
The commercial land brokerage completed seven deals in July through September, including the sale of 144 lots, in the southeast suburb of Henderson. Other recent activity included sales of 83 lots in Lone Mountain on the west side and 38 estate lots in northwest Las Vegas.
"The story is that new home sales have picked up, you're seeing pricing go up a little bit, and you're seeing absorption go up," said Aman Lal of The Hoffman Company. "It seems like the market has found some stability and homebuyers are more confident to go out and make a purchase."
The number of foreclosures on the market dropped dramatically from 2011 to 2012, as investors turned distressed properties into rentals, he said. The reduced housing inventory has helped fuel the demand for new construction.
Because housing demand was so low in 2011, builders had no appetite for land, Lal said. Today, it's a different story.
"New home sales have almost doubled in 2012, and builders have burned through their inventory, so the pressure is on to buy land and deliver new homes."
But Lal also cautioned that demand has been skewed by 2011 legislation known as AB284, or Nevada Assembly Bill 284, a homeowner protection measure that made it more difficult for banks to foreclose.
"That bill has held a lot of foreclosures off the market and new home builders have not had to compete with as many foreclosures in 2012," said Lal. "If AB284 gets amended and the market gets flooded with foreclosures, we could see a stall in new home pricing."
Hoffman, a leading land brokerage company in California for more than three decades, opened its Las Vegas office in 2008 -- the start of the U.S. economic downturn. For five years, Nevada housing was the hardest hit market in the nation.
According to Lal, an average of 15,000 new homes was sold each year in Las Vegas from 1995 to 2005. The market peaked in 2006, when 45,000 homes went under contract. But by 2010, sales had plummeted to 5,000, and in 2011 they fell off the cliff, when only 3,500 homes sold.
"Lots of people think 2009-2010 was the bottom, but it was really in 2011," said Lal.
Slowly but surely, the market is returning.
About The Hoffman Company
The Hoffman Company was founded in 1978, pioneering modern land sales throughout California. Since that time our firm continues to grow, adapt and perfect land sales drawing from our 30 years of experience. As we move into our third decade in business our commitment to serving the needs of homebuilders and land developers throughout California has become even stronger. When you have an asset as valuable as land, it pays to work with California's most experienced land brokerage firm. For more information please visit our Web site at www.hoffmanland.com.
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