Las Vegas land prices down 83 percent from 2007 peak, report says

Since the peak of the market in the fourth quarter of 2007, land prices have fallen by 83.3 outside the resort corridor in Las Vegas, Applied Analysis reported Tuesday.

Land transactions remain scarce in Las Vegas, but when deals get done, the price apparently has yet to find its bottom.

Las Vegas-based Applied Analysis reported the price paid for vacant land during the first quarter fell to an average of $156,700 an acre outside the resort corridor.

That’s a decline of 6.3 percent since the fourth quarter, when it was $167,276 per acre, and down 14.1 percent from the first quarter of 2010 when it was $182,461 per acre.

Since the peak of the market in the fourth quarter of 2007, land prices have fallen by 83.3 outside the resort corridor, the firm reported.

Applied Analysis Principal Brian Gordon said the oversupply on the market in all real estate sectors continues to put downward pressure on new construction and ultimately the need for land.

High vacancy rates in commercial properties and limited residential construction are expected to limit the demand for land.

The land acquisitions have tended to be by speculative investors with a long-term investment outlook, he said. With property changing hands through distressed sales, that will further decrease prices, he said.

Applied Analysis said 442 acres was sold in the first quarter, up from 421 in the fourth quarter but down from 526 acres in the first quarter of 2010.

That includes 11 acres in the resort corridor sold during the first quarter. The three-parcel property adjacent to the Hard Rock Hotel on Paradise Rose sold for $2.1 million per acre through a deed in lieu of foreclosure.

More than three-quarters of the transactions in the first quarter represented distressed sales, Applied Analysis reported. Lender foreclosures accounted for 56.4 percent of the properties changing hands. Traditional sales accounted for 21.9 percent. The rest were deeds in lieu of foreclosure, quitclaim deeds and special warranty deeds.

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