ZZZ - GMG - VEGAS INC 2011-2014

In business the economy real estate prominent leaders scheduled to speak at preview event vegas home prices end 2013 up 24 percent from previous year By Richard N. Velotta senior staff writer Three prominent Southern Nevada business leaders and the head of Gallup polling will speak this week at one of the Las Vegas Metro Chamber of Commerce's top networking events, Preview Las Vegas. About 2,000 people are expected to hear the analysts predict 2014 business trends, outline Clifton Ralenkotter the state of Las Vegas' economy and look forward to the coming year. The event, which also features a trade show with 120 exhibitors and restaurants, begins 7 a.m. Jan. 24 at the Thomas & Mack Center and Cox Pavilion at UNLV. Jim Clifton, chairman and CEO of Gallup and the author of "The Coming Jobs War," is the scheduled keynote speaker. Other presenters include Rossi Ralenkotter, president and CEO of Lang the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority; Robert Lang, UNLV director of Brookings Mountain West; and Jeremy Aguero, principal analyst at Applied Analysis. The trade show and "Preview the Taste," a food event, are scheduled through 1 p.m. Speaker presentations are planned from 8:30 a.m. to noon. Tickets cost $60 for chamber members and $80 for nonmembers and are available online at LVChamber.com or at 641-5822. Tickets also will be available the day of aguero the event for $80 at the Thomas & Mack Center box office. By Eli Segall staff writer Las Vegas home prices inched higher last month to end the year far above 2012. The median sales price of previously owned single-family homes in Southern Nevada in December was $185,000, up 1 percent from November and 24  percent from December 2012, according to a report from the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors. Home prices also soared in 2012, jumping 26 percent after hitting bottom in January of that year. Agents and analysts say they expect prices to rise at a slower, more normal rate in 2014. "Local homeowners should be happy with the strong appreciation we've seen over the past two years," Heidi Kasama, 2014 president for GLVAR, said in a news release. "We haven't seen increases like this since the middle part of the last decade. Like most housing experts, I expect to see more stable home prices in 2014." Investors who swooped in after the economy collapsed to buy cheap homes in bulk to turn into rentals have helped fuel the turnaround. Some investors, however, have been tapering back on local purchases because of the rising prices they helped create. Perhaps in a sign of decreased investor appetite, 44 percent of previously owned homes sold last month were purchased with cash, down from a peak of 60 percent in February 2013, according to the GLVAR. Prices have continued to rise amid a shrinking supply. A total of 13,303 single-family homes were up for sale on the GLVAR's listing service at the end of December, down 9 percent from a year earlier. Inventory has been crimped by investors and by homeowners who refuse to sell or can't sell because they're underwater or stuck in foreclosure processing delays. REAL ESTATE POWERHOUSE Newmark Grubb Knight Frank Las Vegas • Oneoftheworld'sleadingcommercialrealestate advisoryfirms • Morethan300officesonfivecontinents • Over11,000employees • Servespropertyneedsoftenants,owners, investorsanddevelopersworldwide 3930 Howard Hughes Pkwy Suite 180 Las Vegas, NV 89169 702.733.7500 702.862.8242 www.newmarkkf.com 8 20140120_VI08_F.indd 8 VEGASINC.com named "Best Website in Class" by the Nevada Press Association 2013 | 20 JANUARY 2014 | 1/16/14 1:44:42 PM

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