[MomMom]

In today's Las Vegas Sun

Report: 2011 rebound expected, but full recovery years away - Las Vegas Sun



Folks should think twice about moving here without a job...according to these "experts" things will be looking grim for a while still.

[ChrisKLAS]

I love when articles mention a "full recovery."

Recovery to what? Unsustainable utopia fueled by unrealistic housing prices and easy credit for all?

Hopefully we've all learned something in the past few years and realize that the mid 2000s, which often seemed too good to be true, were indeed just that.

Otherwise we're setting ourselves up for an even bigger fall next time 'round.

[MomMom]

Originally Posted by ChrisKLAS

I love when articles mention a "full recovery."

Recovery to what? Unsustainable utopia fueled by unrealistic housing prices and easy credit for all?

Hopefully we've all learned something in the past few years and realize that the mid 2000s, which often seemed too good to be true, were indeed just that.

Otherwise we're setting ourselves up for an even bigger fall next time 'round.

I agree completely. Do we really WANT to "recover" to the 2007 economy?

I say no, seems like no one knows what the word "normal" means anymore here in town.

Money was being made on money that wasn't even there to begin with..who wants to go back to that?

And who the heck wants all that population growth frenzy again anyway?

[tony soprano]

Originally Posted by MomMom

And who the heck wants all that growth frenzy again anyway?

Raises hand.

I anxiously await the next bubble...whether it's dot com stocks, real estate, or gold futures. Having experienced a number of boom/bust cycles, I'm convinced boom times are a lot more fun.

[ChrisKLAS]

Every bust creates great opportunities, for sure, and you have to have a bubble before the inevitable bust.

I moved to Vegas in 2003, and if not for the ridiculous real estate boom, I doubt prices would have ever fallen as far as they have to their current levels. My soon-to-be-wife and I moved into our dream home a few months ago, and I really doubt our owning a house like this would ever have been possible without the bust. I just don't believe prices would have become this depressed without the huge runup beforehand.

The same goes for stocks... those of us who invested in Sands last spring when it was under $5 have done very, very well (I wish I'd done more of it now! ). Those who bought in at $90+, on the other hand, have taken a bath, just as those who got in at $5 could have had things gone differently.

The opportunities are there (even now), especially in this town, and taking advantage of them is just a matter of having planned in the past and being willing to take a calculated risk. I would've never put one penny into Sands that I couldn't afford to lose, but I'm sure glad I did now!

[MomMom]

Originally Posted by tony soprano

Raises hand.

I anxiously await the next bubble...whether it's dot com stocks, real estate, or gold futures. Having experienced a number of boom/bust cycles, I'm convinced boom times are a lot more fun.

I like "boom times" for certain things too.

But not so much when it comes to Las Vegas population growth. The stores and roads are crowded enough now as it is.

[tony soprano]

Originally Posted by ChrisKLAS

Every bust creates great opportunities, for sure, and you have to have a bubble before the inevitable bust.

I moved to Vegas in 2003, and if not for the ridiculous real estate boom, I doubt prices would have ever fallen as far as they have to their current levels. My soon-to-be-wife and I moved into our dream home a few months ago, and I really doubt our owning a house like this would ever have been possible without the bust. I just don't believe prices would have become this depressed without the huge runup beforehand.

The same goes for stocks... those of us who invested in Sands last spring when it was under $5 have done very, very well (I wish I'd done more of it now! ). Those who bought in at $90+, on the other hand, have taken a bath, just as those who got in at $5 could have had things gone differently.

The opportunities are there (even now), especially in this town, and taking advantage of them is just a matter of having planned in the past and being willing to take a calculated risk. I would've never put one penny into Sands that I couldn't afford to lose, but I'm sure glad I did now!

All good points. Out of chaos and uncertainty comes opportunity - and there's no shortage of uncertainty right now.

[Golfinnova]

There was certainly a reason why Vegas exploded in the 2000's. With the housing market continuing to go higher and higher at an astronomical rate, it brought tons of flippers, investors, etc. who took advantage of the no-doc low variable APR's and scooped tons of houses up. Jobs were plentiful, people came out with tons of money to spend as they felt, life was good.

Naturally since we rose at the highest rate, it really should be no surprise that we fell so hard and so fast. There are people that I have talked to that claim that it will be 15 years before we see prices on homes here recover. As I continue to note visiting my clients on and off the strip, people are still coming here but they don't have that discretionary income. They are now coming with budgets.

It will be quite a while before we see that growth again, I just heard that Wynn laid off 270 employees in a cost-cutting move. Steve claims that is the first time in 40 years he has had to resort to such a move.

[tomfirst]

Well...as Sen Harry Reid said after the beginning of this crisis....'nobody knows what to do'....and he wasn't just a kidden. At least during the cold war we could 'duck and cover'.

[007 license to sell]

Every day there is new data of what is going on what will happen here is the latest qrterly report by the Brooking Mountain West findings printed in the sun today.

Yet another list we’re last on — pace of economic recovery

A new report that paints a bleak picture of economic performance in Las Vegas notes that the valley had the sharpest unemployment rate increase among the nation’s 100 largest metropolitan areas from March 2009 through March of this year.