The world knows Las Vegas for gambling and good fun. Investors knew Las Vegas as a great place to flip a house and make tons of cash. But the days of making a quick buck are over according to analyst Jeremy Aguerro.
Still, he says housing may be the key, “I think that it was housing that got us into this mess. I think that it’s housing that will lead us out of this mess.”
Aguerro says for the last seven months the number of resale homes increased. Sure, 65-percent of those sales were bank owned properties. Half of all homeowners in Nevada owe more than the home is worth. The state leads the nation in that category, but Aguerro says those sales indicate growth.
“All the fundamentals that still made this arguably the most prolific economy in the United States during the past 20 years, exist. In some ways they exist more today than they existed three or four years ago,” he said.
Preview Las Vegas 2009 is an economist forecast for the next 12 months. Tourism is the major driving force behind the Las Vegas economy and economists say it is faltering. The headline from Preview Las Vegas is 2009 will bring fewer visitors, more job losses and tough times.
Rossi Ralenkotter, the head of the LVCVA, says buying up the existing inventory of homes must be coupled with the areas real economic engine, “Just bring more people in and it’s going to work its way through.”
That’s why the LVCVA advertising budget will remain the same in 2009 at $92 million, “We have not reduced our advertising budget, we are maintaining it. We need to be in the marketplace to tell the message of what is happening in Las Vegas.”
For the first time, the LVCVA sales team is making cold calls. This year they have already made 1,000 calls to attract new conventions, replacing ones that left or significantly scaled back.
Aguerro says the bottom line is that companies will continue to lay off in 2009, but there are bright spots and a lot of people working to turn the recession around. He says housing offers that bright spot, with houses selling at 2003 prices.
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