Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas continues to be a strong growth area. Between 1990 and 2000 its population grew at a rate of 8 percent annually. July 2001 data showed that its population had reached nearly 1.5 million, an increase of 6 percent from the previous year. For the 12 months ending in September 2002 the area’s nonagricultural employment averaged 785,808 jobs. This represented a 1-percent increase over the previous 12 months but was still below the 4.4-percent average increase during the 12 months ending September 2000. The short-term horizon shows prospects for further growth in employment. Construction will start on Le Reve, a 2,701-room, $2.4 billion hotel/casino, which should be completed by August 2005. Meanwhile, construction projects that include renovation at Caesar’s Palace and second-phase expansions at the Venetian (1,000 rooms), Mandalay Bay (1,125 rooms), and the Bellagio (925 rooms) are under way. The Cannery, a 201-room casino and hotel in north Las Vegas, will open soon with a capacity of 1,000 employees. A Station Casino in Summerlin will open by 2005, and plans for the Trump Tower Las Vegas have been confirmed. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority estimated that the number of new hotel and motel rooms added will fall from 2,553 in 2001 to 1,327 in 2002. However, more than double that number, 3,270, will be added in 2003. New investments should add approximately 10,000 new jobs within the next 2 years. The unemployment rate is holding steady at 5.1 percent as of September 2002, which is slightly improved from 5.4 percent a year earlier. Overall, the local area has demonstrated a substantial rebound since the end of 2001 and appears poised to continue that recovery. The sales market still shows strength. For the first three quarters of 2002 new home sales totaled 16,547, essentially unchanged from the record pace of the same period in 2001, according to the Las Vegas Housing Market Letter. Sales of existing homes increased to approximately 28,800, a 10-percent gain, and are headed for another record year. Meanwhile, single-family building permits in the metropolitan area have declined 5 percent to 17,910 units during the first three quarters of 2002. The median sales price for new homes increased to $183,460, an 8-percent increase. The median sales price for existing homes reached $152,000 (a 7-percent increase) for the 12-month period from August 2001 to August 2002. The OFHEO price index indicated a moderate 25-percent gain in house prices over the past 5 years, well below the national rate of increase over that period. Some local analysts expect modest slippage from the record sales level reached in 2001 because of the overall sluggishness of the economy and the scarcity of lots in the local market area. Multifamily permits totaled 5,362 units for the first 9 months of this year, down more than 22 percent from the previous year. The annualized rate based on the first 9 months of the year is slightly above the 6,600 units permitted annually between 1999 and 2001. As of September 2002 the overall vacancy rate for the metropolitan area was approximately 8 percent, up approximately 1 percent from the year before. The vacancy rate on newer units is approximately 7.5 percent. On older units the rate is approximately 9.3 percent, according to a CB Richard Ellis apartment survey. As a result rents have been almost flat. Rents on two-bedroom units averaged $759 during the third quarter of 2002, up slightly from $756 for the same quarter in 2001. Rent concessions remain fairly widespread. Approximately 90 percent of the rental projects in the Las Vegas area are offering special deals, an approximate one-third increase from the same time in 2001.

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