Report on home prices didn’t tell local story

To the editor:

There is an old saying that all real estate is local. I don't particularly like this statement, because both national and international factors can and do have an impact on any local real estate market. Facts cannot be denied.

When Las Vegas was experiencing housing price increases of 50 percent in one year, much of the rest of the country was having to tolerate "puny" appreciation of 8 to 10 percent. It is also a fact that when the Las Vegas market started its nose dive three years ago, the rest of the country was still chugging along with their "meager" increases. Sales here dropped to almost nothing, with the low point being reached in November 2007. Sales have been slowly but steadily increasing since then.

Before wandering to the curb to pick up my hard copy of the Review-Journal on Wednesday morning, I was looking at reviewjournal.com. As a real estate professional, the headline "Record dip for home values" jumped out at me. This article carried a subhead that said, "LV among top losers in index of 20 cities." This was an Associated Press article out of New York.

I had to read well into the article to find out that it was referencing a 32 percent drop in Las Vegas home prices from October 2007 to October 2008. This was the second-worst drop in the country after Phoenix.

What it did not say was that most of this decline came between October 2007 and the end of April 2008. Following that disastrous period, the rush to the bottom stabilized, or at least slowed to a crawl. This remained true until the global financial crisis hit its stride in September. In September, home prices dropped 8 percent nationally. Las Vegas was only down 6 percent. While I have not seen a similar comparison for October or November, I suspect it would be similar to the September figures.

Las Vegas was the first place in the country to be hit by the housing crisis. It was probably hit worse than any other metropolitan area of the country. It is now poised to be among the first to recover and have a more significant recovery. Home buyers who have been waiting for the market to reach bottom are now starting to creep out of the closet. Investors are now finding that there is good money to be made with rental real estate. Now is the time.

When you are exposed to an article or story about the real estate market, consider where the information is coming from. If it is coming from New York or Washington, the facts may be correct but have little applicability to the Las Vegas market. The information has to be analyzed -- and taken with a rather large grain of salt.

Steve Butler

LAS VEGAS

Apartments wanted

To the editor:

Missing from the discussion of the housing crisis, which is said to be the cause of the current economic fiasco, are plans to provide more affordable apartments. The housing crisis had a place in the top 10 local, national and world business stories in Sunday's Review-Journal Business section.

I fail to hear any mention of building more apartments. Where are the foreclosed people supposed to go? And where is the spending on those foreclosed mortgages? Those houses are still vacant after we have emptied our pockets on the bailout.

Let's have more apartments.

Daniel T. Devine

LAS VEGAS

Lowden must go

To the editor:

It is time for Sue Lowden to resign as chairwoman of the Nevada Republican Party. This last election cycle was a disaster for Republicans under her lack of leadership. Her primary duties were to raise money, increase voter registration, get out the vote and recruit qualified Republicans to run for office. She and her staff failed miserably in all areas.

Now she is treading where she has no business or expertise: the Yucca Mountain Project ("GOP says Yucca site a solution," Dec. 25 Review-Journal). The entire Nevada delegation is opposed to the project, as well as the majority of residents in Southern Nevada.

What an embarrassment to Nevada Republicans. There has not been any leadership in the Nevada Republican Party since Steve Wark and Chris Carr were at the helm.

If U.S. Sen. John Ensign is really serious about reorganizing the state Republican Party, he should demand that Ms. Lowden and her executive director resign immediately.

Joann Schoch

LAS VEGAS

Save Nellis

To the editor:

The fate of the economy of Las Vegas is in the hands of the elected legislators and the governor. I am referring to the downfall that will occur if elected officials take no action to ensure Nellis Air Force Base has a proper and safe zone of protection around its flight paths.

Luke Air Force Base, in Arizona, was on the Base Realignment and Closure list last year due to the fact that the land surrounding the base was being compromised by home builders. These developers were not taking into consideration the billions of dollars Luke contributes to the Phoenix economy.

It took strong leadership by the state's Democratic governor and the Republican-controlled Legislature to meet with the mayors of surrounding cities and strong federal leadership by Sens. John McCain and Jon Kyl to get Luke off the BRAC listing.

If not for their leadership and desire to keep the billions of dollars and the thousands of federal jobs in Arizona, then Luke would have been dust, as Williams Air Force Base in Arizona has become.

Nellis' contributions to the local economy are 10 times greater than those provided by Luke. While Luke provided about $1 billion in wages and jobs to around 500 civilian employees, Nellis provides more than $12 billion per year and employs about 6,800 people.

Do we desire to lose that income and many more secure and well-paying jobs due to the lack of attention from our elected leaders? I would hope not. Keeping the pathways that Nellis needs for safety is imperative -- not just to the safety of persons and homes on the ground, but to the economy of Nevada.

Therefore, I am submitting this issue to every concerned Nevada citizen, including those working at Nellis and the suppliers of the products needed to keep Nellis operational. If they want to keep their businesses open, they need to write, call and e-mail elected officials at the county, state and federal levels and demand action to keep the Nevada economy purring with the funds and jobs that Nellis provides. Have your sons, daughters, spouses, grandparents and friends also write. We must not focus solely on slumping casinos and risk losing Nellis' contributions to our economy.

In addition, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada needs to re-think his opposition to the planned Yucca Mountain storage site for spent nuclear fuel. Nevada has always been an arena for scientific breakthroughs. Providing a secure and safe place to keep spent nuclear waste would create thousands of jobs and increase the tax collections needed to operate through good times and bad.

Considering the Democrats of the 110th Congress had an approval rating of about 10 percent, it is time they step up and serve the people.

Jeff Durbin

LAS VEGAS

Missing in action

To the editor:

I watched this week's sad but laughable news conference in which the White House spokesman attempted to describe President Bush's recent phone call to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

The "I think he thinks" stab at explaining the president's position on the recent Hamas attacks and the defensive efforts by Israel was a prime example of the lack of leadership by our president at home and abroad.

I have a suggestion for a new photo-op: Instead of standing on a battleship with a "Mission Accomplished" banner, perhaps the president could be shown relaxing in a recliner at his Crawford, Texas, home under a banner that says "Missing in Action."

Glen Boyd

LAS VEGAS