2012年, 拉斯维加斯的公寓大楼的销售, 可能激增 = Sales of Las Vegas apartment complexes may surge

2012年 拉斯维加斯, 的公寓大楼的销售, 可能激增 !!!

Sales of Las Vegas apartment complexes may surge

BY HUBBLE SMITH
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

Posted: Dec. 16, 2011 | 2:00 a.m.

Out-of-state investors are scouring the Las Vegas market for apartment properties selling for $10 million or more, a segment that will see the number of transactions double in 2012, a commercial real estate executive said Wednesday.

About 20 apartment complexes with at least 100 units changed hands in 2011, said Richard Bird, regional manager of Marcus & Millichap real estate services in Las Vegas. About 90 percent of the transactions are cash deals and 80 percent of buyers are from out of the market, he said.

From his research and what he's heard from brokers at other firms, a large volume of transactions will come in 2012, Bird said.

"People are coming in from out of state, from California, and they're still buying properties for 40 cents on the dollar, which leaves room for capital improvements," Bird said.

Many of the transactions are lower-quality "B" and "C" class apartments that are bank-owned, Bird said. More distressed sales are expected in 2012. Among Las Vegas properties receiving notices of default in October alone were the Bonanza Springs Suites just north of downtown and Mountain Paradise Village apartments at 5800 Meikle Lane.

With prices so low, the city of North Las Vegas was able to buy the 288-unit Buena Vista Springs apartments near Martin Luther King Boulevard and Carey Avenue in September for $7,900 a unit. City officials plan to raze the crime-ridden complex, Bird said.

"That speaks volumes that local municipalities are doing this to spark the market and to make Las Vegas a better place to live," Bird said. "That wouldn't have been possible during the heyday."

Meanwhile, the high number of foreclosures in overbuilt suburban communities has spurred strong demand for Class A properties as displaced homeowners become renters.

"What's shaking is not just the distressed stuff, but also the stabilized Class A properties in Summerlin and other nice areas. We're going to see that stuff shake loose," Bird said.

Among the highlights from Marcus & Millichap's fourth-quarter apartment market report:

■ Asking rents will climb 0.3 percent this year to $798 a month, while effective rents -- taking out concessions -- will rise 0.3 percent to $745 a month. Rents were flat in 2010 compared with the previous year.

■ Supply-side pressure and growth in demand from renters re-entering the workforce will result in a decline in vacancy to 7.8 percent, down 130 basis points from a year ago. In 2010, vacancy fell 210 basis points from prior year's peak.

■ Following a year with inventory growth of more than 1,500 units, rental stock expanded by only 680 units in 2011, or less than 1 percent. With fewer new units, the market will find equilibrium and ease the upward trend in vacancy.

■ Local employers are projected to add 10,800 jobs in 2011, a 1.4 percent increase in total employment, the largest since the recession began in 2007. By comparison, employment in the metropolitan area shrank by 13,800 jobs in 2010.

Separately, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported $2.4 trillion in commercial multifamily mortgage debt in the third quarter, essentially unchanged from the previous quarter.

Life insurance companies, banks and the Federal Housing Authority (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) all increased their holdings of commercial and multifamily mortgages in the third quarter, said Jamie Woodwell, the association's vice president of commercial real estate research.