Many In The Biz Believe That Pulte Homes Got It Wrong

Pulte Homes seems to have put many investors, as well as the Las Vegas real estate market in a bind. Pulte Homes recently announced that they were dropping the prices on their newly constructed homes by 25 percent instead of the previously announced 5 percent.

This has created many headaches for local agents working in the Vegas area. Many of them have been fielding phone calls from potential buyers asking when other newly constructed home prices will fall.

With no other companies following the same path as Pulte Homes, many buyers are trying to wait them out. Local experts are outraged at the move Pulte put on the market.

According to Dennis Smith of Home Builders Research, Pulte had been too aggressive with its pricing and was $60-$80 per square foot above competing product.

Smith also state that, "Many of us thought that they went overboard and failed to realize the consequences of what would happen once the out of state investors left the area".

Smith also points out that Pulte was slow to restrict investor home sales and now is paying the price with new homes that have never been lived in lining the streets and available for sale against other competitors who are also releasing newly built homes.

FBI Investigates Fraud Among Residential And Commercial Real Estate

The FBI has released a report that they believe the massive expansion into the nationwide real estate market has unleashed a wave of suspected money laundering.

At first they were investigating the mortgage industry, but now they say that is seems to be prevalent in the commercial real estate business as well.

It's no secret that southern Nevada is one of the fastest growing and most lucrative commercial and residential real estate markets in the nation. Special Agent Ted Elder says that this is no surprise; the FBI has been investigating in the area for some time.

Agent Elder says that there is mass residential fraud happening in the area and he believes that if it's happening on the residential side then it is happening on the commercial side as well.

The FBI is focusing local resources on investigating real estate related fraud in the Las Vegas area.

There are multiple investigations currently underway, however the FBI will not comment specifically about ongoing investigations.

Some Are Predicting Trouble For The Housing Industry

While there is an increase of construction on new homes and apartments, local experts are predicting trouble for the housing industry.

Construction of new homes increased by nearly 7 percent in November; with a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.588 million units.

However, for the 10th consecutive month housing application numbers dropped. This is a strong indicator that the housing market is in trouble according to local Las Vegas experts.

With housing applications dropping and the number of permits at all time lows in the area, builders are scratching their heads.

However one doesn't have to look hard for the source of the problem according to Mark Wynne, a local Las Vegas real estate agent. He says the problem is the increase of supplies and construction costs.

According to Wynne when you mix high costs with a buyers market things aren't usually going to go the way many people would like.

Also another problem is energy costs, which were up 6.1 percent in the November survey of wholesale prices.

Natural gas for home use, home heating oil and diesel fuel costs all posted big gains at the wholesale level and are all contributing to the troubles that are besetting the housing industry.

Meritage Homes Master-Planned Community

New models for a master-planned community are now under construction for Meritage Homes.

Meritage Homes has had the plans for Providence master-planned community in the workings for some time now. The released plans show that the builder's Northern Terrace community will offer 15 different home designs for four villages.

Those villages are Concord, Brookline, and Salem and also include the gated community Andover.

The structural layout shows that the communities will feature one and two story homes with square footage ranging from 1,320 to 2,641. The homes will also range from 3 bedrooms and 2 baths to 6 bedrooms and four baths.

Also included are two and three car garages. Inside the designers have offered home owners a plethora of options including master retreats, dens, bonus rooms, exercise rooms and much, much more.

These newly constructed models have been put on the market for moderate prices.

Pre-model homes will start in the mid $200,000 and prices will increase with amenities.

Unemployment/Inflation Predictions For 2007

Forecasts are in that the unemployment rate will increase by .2 percent in 2007. The average was estimated at 4.6 percent for this year.

Many say that this slight an increase will not play a major role in the real estate market.

Numbers are expected to decrease for new-home sales, but existing home sales are expected to soar.

Consumer Price Index has predicted that inflation will be down by more than a point next year.

Current numbers for 2006 show inflation at 3.4 percent while numbers for 2007 will look more like 2.3 percent. However inflation adjusted disposable personal income is said to increase by nearly 3 percent next year.

Incentives Play A Big Factor For Many Buyers Looking To Relocate To North Las Vegas

If you're looking to relocate to North Las Vegas, now may be the time to do it.

Sales Agent Rosie Bennett has announced that William Lyons Homes are offering incentive plans for buyers who will purchase homes under construction at The Cottages at Centennial Ranch.

The incentives will be given to qualified buyers who purchase homes in the gated community of two-story homes.

Bennett says that William Lyon Homes is offering a $28,000 incentive plus appliances. The program will allow buyers who use the builder’s preferred lender to receive funds to use toward closing costs or upgrades.

Qualified buyers will also receive washer, dryer, refrigerator and microwave. Bennett says that certain restrictions apply.

Bennett also says about the incentives, "This is a fantastic opportunity to save a large sum of money on our homes that have been released for sale".

"They will be ready at the end of this month and into early January, so there’s no time to wait".

Move fast because Bennett says that buyers are responding in a big way.

Could The Experts Be Wrong?

Reports show that US stocks were set for a lower a lower open on Tuesday. This comes after a surge in production level inflation last month.

Markets in Thailand suffered sharp falls and tighter capital controls and many other markets around the world looked soft.

According to market reports the producer price inflation jumped 2 percent last month. This marks the highest rate since November 1974 after falling 1.6 percent in October.

Everything appears to be looking good despite so many predicting market failures and chaos.

Things are similar in the housing market where many experts have predicted that the housing market is in for its worst years and that there is a housing bubble ready to burst any day.

However numbers keep going up and markets keep producing money. Only time will tell where the numbers will take us.