Las Vegas Nevada

Clark County is a political subdivision of the State of Nevada, established in 1909 and operated under the provisions of the general laws of the State. The Clark County seat of government is the City of Las Vegas. The County is comprised of 7,927 square miles and includes five incorporated cities:Las Vegas, Henderson, North Las Vegas, Boulder City and Mesquite; thirteen unincorporated towns; one school district; four library districts; one urban and two rural fire districts; one sanitation district; one urban and three rural water districts; and eleven judicial townships. All special districts in unincorporated areas of the County are created by the Board of County Commissioners. A total of 68 separate taxing units exist within Clark County. Clark County, with a population of 1,040,688 (60% of the total state population), is the most populous of Nevada's 17 counties. As of July 1995, unincorporated Clark County reached a population of 452,971 residents, the City of Las Vegas 371,809, the City of Henderson 118,474, the City of North Las Vegas 77,778, Boulder City 14,133, and Mesquite 5,523 residents. The County reached one million residents in October 1994. In keeping pace with its growth, the County is undergoing tremendous change. As the fastest growing County in the nation, it has emerged as one of the best places to live and work in the United States. Among county governments nationwide, Clark County has one of the most complex and unique configurations. With an annual expenditure level of approximately $1.8 billion, it ranks second only to the state government in level of activity and sphere of responsibility. Clark County's uniqueness and divergence lies in its tri-part responsibility; simultaneously, it is a regional, "city" and town government. The County encompasses an area larger than the entire state of New Jersey, and provides numerous regional services equally to all residents, regardless of whether they live in an incorporated city, and urban unincorporated area, or rural "town." Clark County also provides municipal governmental services to all County residents.

Welcome to your complete resource for Las Vegas Nevada real estate services. Over 15,000 unique visitors a month come for home buying and selling, MLS property listings (Multiple Listing Service) and a variety of helpful Las Vegas relocation services.The property inventory is updated daily: if it�s on the market, it�s on efijian. Take your time and browse through the most informative and up-to-date property listings in Las Vegas and the surrounding areas. Inside you�ll find home photos, virtual & audio tours, e-mail & print flyers, open house schedules and much, much more. Once you find what you�re looking for our talented team of 300+ full-service Las Vegas real estate agents are available 24/7 to provide their services with the same ease and convenience that make us the premier Las Vegas real estate destination on the internet. More than just neon lights. The Las Vegas valley is a wonderful place to live. Residents enjoy no state income tax, beautiful neighborhoods, low unemployment, great parks and recreation. Las Vegas is known as the entertainment capital of the world for good reason. Some of the world's largest resorts are in Las Vegas, featuring world class entertainment, restaurants and shopping. Currently more than 5,000 people a month move to the Las Vegas valley, which includes the cities of Las Vegas, Henderson, Boulder City, North Las Vegas and the master planned communities of Summerlin in Las Vegas and Green Valley in Henderson. For those who prefer a country club atmosphere, Las Vegas, North Las Vegas and Henderson offer several country club and master planned communities.

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Southern Nevada Home Builders Association

With Las Vegas having more than 29,000 homes, townhouses and condos on the market, the Southern Nevada Home Builders Association released a report last month that the region would have a shortage of workforce housing by 2009. The report, drafted by Las Vegas consulting firm Applied Analysis, said it's possible because of the opening of resorts on the Strip in 2009 and 2010. The creation of jobs will fuel the demand for migration to Las Vegas and the need for more homes, the report said. If that is true, it means people looking for bargains better buy homes in 2008 because strong demand will only increase housing prices.

"We think it is a matter of grave concern to the community," said Monica Caruso, spokeswoman for the homebuilders. "With the resorts opening, that is going to bring in tens of thousands of jobs, and our industry has to rachet up to address workforce housing at the end of 2009. People are well served to get a roof over their head quickly. We are going to have no place to live, and people are going to have to double up and triple up."

The dire nature of what the report is predicting has prompted another Las Vegas analyst, Restrepo Consulting, to announce that the firm and other analysts are reviewing the report to see if that scenario will unfold. Restrepo says the housing report will be referenced in a study it is doing on economic diversification for the Southern Nevada Regional Planning Coalition, which is composed of local government entities.

Restrepo said the firm has put together a consortium of national, regional and local consulting firms with extensive experience in evaluating housing markets across the country to look at the report. If the firm's findings are supported, they pose some interesting challenges for homebuilders and for recruiting workers to Southern Nevada. The message will be going out that Las Vegas has a housing shortage and that potentially means more expensive housing, it says.

"We have been asked by a number of our private-sector and public clients to evaluate the assumptions and methodologies in that report to see if it makes sense," Restrepo said. "We are trying to replicate the same conclusions. It has an effect on recruiting companies to Southern Nevada. We already have some challenges we are facing and if the message goes out, and if it is a true message, it is what it is, and we will support it completely. Our clients just want us to make sure the report is valid so, if there is a housing shortage, we need to plan accordingly."

Applied Analysis Principal Jeremy Aguero says his projections were based on the demand for employees, and he is confident in his report and has vetted the numbers. But he admits when it comes to analysts, reasonable minds can differ, he says. "We feel comfortable with it," Aguero said. The homebuilders are confident in the report and stand by it, Caruso said. Applied Analysis is one of the top firms in the community and works for state and local governments.

The 21st Century Version of  "The Grapes of Wrath"

Ontario California - Between railroad tracks and beneath the roar of departing planes sits "tent city," a terminus for homeless people. It is not, as might be expected, in a blighted city center, but in the once-booming suburbia of Southern California. The noisy, dusty camp sprang up in July with 20 residents and now numbers 200 people, including several children, growing as this region east of Los Angeles has been hit by the U.S. housing crisis. The unraveling of the region known as the Inland Empire reads like a 21st century version of "The Grapes of Wrath," John Steinbeck's novel about families driven from their lands by the Great Depression. As more families throw in the towel and head to foreclosure here and across the nation, the social costs of collapse are adding up in the form of higher rates of homelessness, crime and even disease. While no current residents claim to be victims of foreclosure, all agree that tent city is a symptom of the wider economic downturn. And it's just a matter of time before foreclosed families end up at tent city, local housing experts say.

"They don't hit the streets immediately," said activist Jane Mercer. Most families can find transitional housing in a motel or with friends before turning to charity or the streets. "They only hit tent city when they really bottom out." Steve, 50, who declined to give his last name, moved to tent city four months ago. He gets social security payments, but cannot work and said rents are too high. "House prices are going down, but the rentals are sky-high," said Steve. "If it wasn't for here, I wouldn't have a place to go." Nationally, foreclosures are at an all-time high. Filings are up nearly 100 percent from a year ago, according to the data firm RealtyTrac. Officials say that as many as half a million people could lose their homes as adjustable mortgage rates rise over the next two years.

California ranks second in the nation for foreclosure filings -- one per 88 households last quarter. Within California, San Bernardino county in the Inland Empire is worse -- one filing for every 43 households, according to RealtyTrac. Maryanne Hernandez bought her dream house in San Bernardino in 2003 and now risks losing it after falling four months behind on mortgage payments. "It's not just us. It's all over," said Hernandez, who lives in a neighborhood where most families are struggling to meet payments and many have lost their homes. She has noticed an increase in crime since the foreclosures started. Her house was robbed, her kids' bikes were stolen and she worries about what type of message empty houses send.

The pattern is cropping up in communities across the country, like Cleveland, Ohio, where Mark Wiseman, director of the Cuyahoga County Foreclosure Prevention Program, said there are entire blocks of homes in Cleveland where 60 or 70 percent of houses are boarded up. "I don't think there are enough police to go after criminals holed up in those houses, squatting or doing drug deals or whatever," Wiseman said. "And it's not just a problem of a neighborhood filled with people squatting in the vacant houses, it's the people left behind, who have to worry about people taking siding off your home or breaking into your house while you're sleeping." Health risks are also on the rise. All those empty swimming pools in California's Inland Empire have become breeding grounds for mosquitoes, which can transmit the sometimes deadly West Nile virus, Riverside County officials say.

But it is not just homeowners who are hit by the foreclosure wave. People who rent now find themselves in a tighter, more expensive market as demand rises from families who lost homes, said Jean Beil, senior vice president for programs and services at Catholic Charities USA. "Folks who would have been in a house before are now in an apartment and folks that would have been in an apartment, now can't afford it," said Beil. "It has a trickle-down effect." For cities, foreclosures can trigger a range of short-term costs, like added policing, inspection and code enforcement. These expenses can be significant, said Lt. Scott Patterson with the San Bernardino Police Department, but the larger concern is that vacant properties lower home values and in the long-run, decrease tax revenues.And it all comes at a time when municipalities are ill-equipped to respond. High foreclosure rates and declining home values are sapping property tax revenues, a key source of local funding to tackle such problems.

Earlier this month, U.S. President George W. Bush rolled out a plan to slow foreclosures by freezing the interest rates on some loans. But for many in these parts, the intervention is too little and too late. Ken Sawa, CEO of Catholic Charities in San Bernardino and Riverside counties, said his organization is overwhelmed and ill-equipped to handle the volume of people seeking help. "We feel helpless," said Sawa. "Obviously, it's a local problem because it's in our backyard, but the solution is not local."

Wild Wild West : California Dreaming Makes A Comeback

More home buyers are beginning to see a silver lining shining behind California's clouded housing market. The state has had one of the highest foreclosure rates in the nation and new and existing sales have been slow. That's left the Golden State bulging at the seams with a swollen inventory of homes for sale. So where's the silver lining? Affordability. Homes are a lot cheaper and so is mortgage money.

The California Association of Realtors (CAR) says 44 percent of the state's households could afford to buy an entry-level home during the first quarter this year. That's almost double what it was a year ago, at 26 percent. The median income necessary to purchase an entry-level home dropped about $29,000 from $97,000 in April last year to about $68,000 this year.

That's because single-family home prices in California simply crashed in April, falling a whopping 32 percent from a year ago. The median price is now about $200,000 less than it was a year ago, according to the state's Realtor association. Even land values in some areas have plunged by as much as 65 percent, according to the Hoffman Land Index. Not a single region escaped double digit home price declines in April.

Seaside resort area Monterey County saw its median home price slashed by more than 47 percent. Sacramento was down 35 percent. San Diego and Los Angeles, both down 27 percent. Santa Cruz and Santa Clara County, the region that includes Silicon Valley, were only down 13 percent each the smallest regional price declines in the state. Also boosting affordability was lenders' recent reduction in interest rates by nearly a full percentage point for jumbo mortgages of up to about $730,000.

But many more homes now qualify for even cheaper mortgage interest rates. The median price of a home in California now stands at about $400,000, down from $594,000 a year ago and below even the old conforming loan level where rates are lowest. CAR said the minimum household income needed to purchase an entry-level home at $356,350 in California in the first quarter of 2008 was $67,830, based on an adjustable interest rate of 5.65 percent and assuming a 10 percent down payment.

First-time buyers typically purchase a home equal to 85 percent of the prevailing median price. The monthly payment including taxes and insurance was $2,260 for the first quarter of 2008. At $67,830, the minimum qualifying income was 30 percent lower than a year earlier when households needed $96,500 to qualify for a loan on an entry-level home. In California, median household income stands at $50,700, according to CAR.

With 64 percent of households with enough income to afford a starter home, Sacramento County and the High Desert region were the most affordable areas in the state. Monterey was the least affordable area in the state at 29 percent, followed by the San Francisco Bay Area at 30 percent. In San Diego it was 41 percent; Los Angeles, 35 percent; Silicon Valley, 31 percent.