Construction worker Devon Close directs iron from a crane Monday while working on the Streamline condo tower at Ogden Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard North. Photo by Samantha Clemens. David Baca, a construction worker at Streamline condo, prepares to harness iron to be lifted at the downtown construction site at Ogden Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard North on Monday. Photo by Samantha Clemens.

The inventory of luxury condominium units for sale and under construction in Las Vegas far exceeds demand, local research firm Applied Analysis concluded in its fourth-quarter condo market report.

There is insufficient market demand to absorb all of the units in the development pipeline, Applied Analysis principal Brian Gordon said.

Potential inventory of 98,432 units includes 57,999 planned or proposed units, 3,889 existing units and 11,124 units under construction. Nearly 10,944 units have been canceled and 1,679 units are suspended, Applied Analysis reported.

"Obviously the supply side of the equation continues to increase as far as the number of potential units," Gordon said. "At the same time, several projects have canceled or suspended sales activity, which offsets those increases."

Among recent projects that folded are Urban Village, Las Ramblas, Sandhurst, Red Rock Residences at Red Rock Resort and the Hard Rock Hotel expansion. W Hotel has stopped taking reservations and is not converting previous reservations to "hard" contracts in which deposits become nonrefundable.

Gordon estimates that 18,500 units will finish construction by the end of 2010. While the depth of the market over the long run appears fairly strong, it's not likely that the feverish sales volume reported by early developers will be sustained in the near term, he said.

"From the demand side, we look at sales activity and pricing," Gordon said. "The number of units is off the feverish pace of 2004 and the first half of '05 as the investment component of buyers has dropped off dramatically. Developers are required to focus on end users, which includes second home buyers, leisure travelers and future retirees."

Few new projects are likely to start construction in the next 12 months. The number of units available in the existing resale inventory was 557 at the end of the year, with an average asking price of $861,000, or $639 a square foot, Applied Analysis reported.

Chet Nichols, executive vice president of Amland Development, said the 182-unit first tower at One Las Vegas high-rise on the South Strip will be ready for occupancy by the end of the year.

He said every condo developer has a fabulous pool, game room and media center, but it's the amenities associated with the hotel component of One Las Vegas that separates it from other projects.

"I think the amenities we're talking about is what we're adjacent to," Nichols said. "I look at Allure and Sky (Las Vegas) on the Strip and they're absolutely beautiful, but can I step outside and go for a walk or ride my bike? No. I'm talking about convenience and enhancing your life experience -- dining, socializing and working out."

One Queensridge Place started construction without any of the marketing hype of other projects and is 85 percent sold, developer Johan Lowie of Executive Home Builders said. Occupancy of the first four floors is expected in late July.

Lowie said the interior work at Queensridge is performed in-house by Executive Home Builders, which helps speed along delivery.

"We also manufacture our own material so we don't have to worry about a time line because we produce our own cabinets, our own stone floors," he said.

Jeremy Aguero, principal of Applied Analysis, said price, location, branding and amenity packages will ultimately dictate the success of any given project.

Aguero cautioned that up to 60 percent of luxury condo units that close escrow could enter the market during the next 36 months in the form of resales.