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Real estate survey ranks two Las Vegas communities in top 10
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John Locher/Las Vegas Review-Journal
A hiker walks a trail Wednesday in the Mountain's Edge master-planned community. The 3,500-acre residential development in southwestern Las Vegas was certified as the No. 5 top-selling community in the United States by RCLCO, a Bethesda, Md.-based real estate advisory firm. Providence, a 1,200-acre master plan in northwest Las Vegas, ranked seventh. » Buy this photo
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LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Updated: Apr. 7, 2011 | 3:02 a.m.
Mountain's Edge and Providence, both developed by Las Vegas-based Focus Property Group, ranked in the top 10 master-planned communities in the United States in a survey by RCLCO, a Bethesda, Md.-based real estate advisory firm.
Mountain's Edge, a 3,500-acre residential development in southwest Las Vegas, was certified as the No. 5 top-selling community with 644 sales in 2010, an improvement from 596 in 2009.
Providence, a 1,200-acre master plan in northwest Las Vegas, ranked No. 7 with 378 sales, down from 388 the previous year.
Mountain's Edge and Providence ranked No. 3 and No. 5, respectively, in 2009.
"It tells me what sorry shape the rest of the country is in terms of sales," Las Vegas housing analyst Dennis Smith said Wednesday. "There's a lot of competition, particularly for Providence. There's a lot of pricing pressure because of that and a lot of good deals out there."
Many builders are selling new homes for less than $100 a square foot, even less than $90 a square foot at Providence, Smith said.
The Summerlin community dominated master-plan sales for much of the late 1990s and into the 2000s, ranking No. 1 for several consecutive years. That changed as the move-up market disappeared in Las Vegas and Summerlin's higher land basis thwarted new-home development, Smith said.
Focus Property Group Chief Executive Officer John Ritter said he was pleased with the top-10 rankings for Mountain's Edge and Providence, given weak market conditions in Las Vegas compared with the majority of the nation.
"The continued performance by these communities is even more gratifying considering their size and that they are located in a city with a population of under 2 million compared to some projects in the survey that are much larger, with double or triple the population in their marketing regions," Ritter said.
The Villages in Florida, an active adult community, was No. 1, and Irvine Villages in Orange County, Calif., was No. 2.
RCLCO has been releasing its top-selling master-planned community rankings since 1994.
Mountain's Edge and Providence have consistently ranked high since making the RCLCO list. Mountain's Edge has placed in the top five for the past six years, while Providence has ranked in the top 10 for the past five years, with four of those years in the top five.
When fully developed, Mountain's Edge will have 14,500 residential development units, four elementary schools, two middle schools and one high school. The community features the 80-acre Exploration Park with trails, picnic and play areas and outdoor amphitheater.
Contact reporter Hubble Smith at hsmith@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0491.
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I travel all over the city, day to day, week to week. I am a 55 year resident of the Las Vegas Valley. I kinda know my way around.
It has always been a wonder to me how these polls work out the way they do. Now I know, for sure, beyond a doubt. The results are paid for. That is the only way Providence and Mtn's Edge could do better than honorable mention in any poll.
Seriously, whom ever designed the infrastructure from Ann Rd. North should be stripped of their civil engineering license. What other major American city has "freeways" that intersect without intersecting? Experienced explorers with a GPS and a map have gotten lost trying to get from 95 to Home Depot on Centennial Pkwy, or is that Tropical Pkwy. Wait we passed it, go back. What do you mean you can't get there from here?
Mountains Edge? Good thing Union Pacific is so close. That is the only way you are getting fresh food today. 80 years ago, they say, it took miners living in Arden(now UP railyard) a full day to get into Las Vegas. Some things never change.
This Las Vegas Review Journal Real Estate Section article typifies the Pollyanna puffing by the Real Estate Industry. Their sales people always have to say to each other that “everything is really great!”
Who are they kidding? Probably they are kidding themselves, to buoy up their morale so as to keep selling into a collapsing market full of foreclosed homes, while not becoming discouraged.
Please also notice that huge, overbuilt swarm of houses in just one development in Las Vegas. It looks like there are over 10,000 houses in just this one section! And they only sold a few hundred houses, which they claim is just peachy-dandy!
Can we get a REALTOR to comment with "Now is the time to buy!!"
Big deal. How much did Focus pay for this "advertising"? Where are the promised parks? Owners were sold a dream and received empty promises. Welcome to NevaDUH.
@Ronald.Greer -- You are correct in assessing that this is only one side of the issue. That side would be sales. Once people actually move there, that's a whole other story. That story would be foreclosures and crime. This is one reason why it's nearly impossible to be optimistic about real estate in Las Vegas. There's always that "other" side of the issue.
Interesting. I have several friends that live in Mountains Edge and they say there are a ton of foreclosures there and crime has gone up. In fact one one of them recently had a burglary of their home while they were in the house. I am surprised it ranked so high unless no one is looking at this side of the issue
They've been in the top ten now for 3 years in a row. #1 actually in a recent year. Google "RCLCO survey vegas" .. this is hardly new news, and if anything, we have fewer entries in this list and further down the list. Just goes to show that lying with statistics is still alive and well.
hooray for vegas!!!