Available housing may be more in demand in 2009

The Southern Nevada Home Builders Association released a report this week which forecasts a shortage in available housing by as early as 2009.

The study, conducted by Applied Analysis, found that the 2008 residential housing market will likely remain soft.

However, major Strip construction projects set to open in 2009 and 2010 will create a need for thousands of new jobs, which will strongly impact housing availability.

"We commissioned this study because we know Southern Nevada is unique and is subject to different market forces than other cities around the nation," said Irene Porter, executive director of the Southern Nevada Home Builders Association. "It is clear there is currently a weakness in our housing market, but the results of the report indicate that we should all start planning ahead to avoid a housing availability crisis."

According to the report, when compared with the last five years, the next five years will show a decrease in demand for single-family homes, but increased demand for condominiums, townhomes and apartments. Specifically, the Southern Nevada market will demand 24,800 new condominiums in the next five years, contrasted with 18,400 in the last five years.

"Southern Nevada's housing trends are historically cyclical," said Jeremy Aguero, principal analyst with Applied Analysis. "Though perhaps not to this degree, we have experienced this sort of trough before. When you look at the data, we are in one of the stronger buyer's markets in recent history."

To access a copy of the Applied Analysis report, visit snhba.com and click on Housing Report.