Traci wrote on July 08, 2009 02:29 PM: The Glitter has faded and the Party is officially over. Las Vegas is a dead end and will never be like it was before. I moved here in 2001 with no job and knowing nobody. I had 7 successful years, self employed making great money carving out a career I couldn't have had anywhere else. I was making $250 a day working tradeshow booths at Convention Center. I got out of debt. I was saving to buy the home I rent. The Condo I rent tripled in value, then was so high I could not afford to buy. Last year the bottom dropped out. My home dropped in value 75%. I could afford to buy it now, but there is no steady work! Rent, gas & groceries have gone up but my income dropped 75%. I am now in debt, and need to move somewhere cheaper and start all over....Its horrible.

Eddie Gin wrote on June 25, 2009 01:03 AM: Memo to zombiedata: You know, that's the best thing going, you couldn't have said it any better. The tourist. That's what we need. The only reason Marijuana stays illegal is the alcohol lobby. Marijuana was legal in this country for a long time. I'm not sure when it will appear, but some day it will be legal. It's a shame that our law enforcement officers around the country lose their life trying to regulate and stop this drug, as the same law enforcement brothers did with alcohol in the 20's and 30's.

wayne a allen wrote on June 24, 2009 07:47 PM: it was supose to say study the bond market not bomd market or should i say bum market. Lets face it the banks were more or less forced to make some bad loan to people who could not really afford these homes so standards were eased. now banks are smart enough to know that they cannot sell these loans like they use to because now investors will not pay like they use to, to make money. It has changed they are lucky to get 25 cents for every dollar they loan out. tell me would you invest and lose. well don't expect this scnerio to chang any time soon. Banks will make some loan like fha that are backed by the government or with the proper amount of down, today that is closer to 40% for normal financing. let face it homes that are selling here are foreclosures, short sale homes that most of them are being bought by investors or fha buyers with only 3% down plus closing cost. Lets face it even this month when Chrysler sold a ton of cars it was not because they built the best cars but they had to sell themat a loss to save themselves from a bigger loss. That is what banks are doing now taking their losses. Greed Greed what can I say.

wayne allen wrote on June 24, 2009 07:16 PM: I have just read this economic outlook column and I found the last paragraph very misleading or not understanding of the realestate market as it is today and no real understanding of it's furture. all you need to do is go on the internet look up www.cyberhome go to almost any neighbor and see how much home prices have and are declining. it will get worst as more families lose their jobs here,like consolidated resorts just closed down it,s time share employes.plus every neighbor will lose more value as more foreclosers will happen. study the bomd market to see why banks are not lending out money, they don't want to lose their investments loans and not even the Presidents so called stimulus bill which gave Billions to them will force bank to make loans to help out.

Leric Goodman wrote on June 24, 2009 05:55 PM: Although we still have a lot of pain ahead of us, some things ARE improving.

1. People whose adjustable rate mortgages are based on LIBOR are seeing their mortgage payments go DOWN as LIBOR rates continue to fall. This means their home mortgages cost them LESS. That means that they have to earn less to make their house payment, or, if their income is stable, they have more money to spend.

2. House prices have fallen to where they are once again affordable for ordinary working families. Several down payment assistance plans for first time buyers are about to begin, so "surplus" housing inventories should be reduced pretty quickly. This should reduce the downward pressure which the "surplus" inventory has been putting on market prices. This will help stabilize prices and will help stabilize the property tax receipts of local governments.

3. Much of the "surplus" housing is "phantom stock" anyway. That is, it is on someone's books at housing, but on inspection, it is uninhabitable. That means that we will see some combination of a housing 0renovation construction market and a new housing construction market. This means jobs and sales tax receipts.

4. Reorganizations in bankruptcy will allow casino operators who take advantage of Chapter XI to offer customers the discounted rooms, meals, shows, and amenities of old Las Vegas, bringing in more customers, and requiring more employees working longer hours to service the additional business.

Randall wrote on June 24, 2009 03:05 PM: To JimboJones.Your exactly right with your blog.Everything in Vegas is overpriced and when this recession ends it will be again unfortunately.Vegas to me is the opitime of Corporate Greed.That is why one day Vegas will not be on the list for the most desireable places to live.No wonder people want to move out of the country.Because the U.S.A is overpriced .!!!

jimbojones wrote on June 24, 2009 02:38 PM: If only they would bring back the $29 dollar hotel room and $.99 buffet things would all work out.

locke wrote on June 24, 2009 01:03 PM: "You conservatives drove the economy off the cliff in the first place so no one cares what you think. It takes a lot of gall to criticize the way in which someone else is cleaning up your mess." Some data, please? On a state-by-state basis, low-cost, low-tax, low-regulation states still lead high-tax, high-cost, high-regs ones. It didn't take conservatism to bring down Michigan and the Northeast. The excesses of the regulatory, nanny state
sufficed.

the facts wrote on June 24, 2009 01:02 PM: .










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leek wrote on June 24, 2009 12:44 PM:

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