Brian Sodoma
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Recent Articles
Bargains at CityCenter?
April 26th, 2012
With prices for a 782-square-foot one-bedroom at Veer now starting at $389,000 and Mandarin Oriental’s 1,105-square-foot one-bedroom starting at $849,000, CityCenter’s residential units are down about 48 percent from their initial price.
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A Taxing Year Ahead?
April 19th, 2012
Relieved to have survived another tax season? Brace yourself, because if IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman is to be believed, the worst is yet to come. Shulman recently warned the press that next year could be a “real disaster” if some tough decisions aren’t made before Jan. 1.
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Real Estate
Are Home Prices Ready to Bounce?
April 5th, 2012
Here’s the good news: Southern Nevada saw mild growth in employment and economic output through the end of 2011, according to a recent Brookings Mountain West report. Here’s the bad news: Housing prices haven’t been appreciating. And here’s the possible antidote to the bad news: The Valley is in the midst of a strong housing supply contraction, with available housing units hovering around 6,000 and dropping.
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Real Estate
And Now … Too Few Homes on the Market?
March 22nd, 2012
Passed in May 2011, and effective in October, AB 284 reset foreclosure procedures for Nevada banks. Now, with banks learning the new rules, the foreclosure pipeline has come to a virtual standstill. Housing supply has been shrinking rapidly. Throughout 2011, roughly 11,000 houses were available to the market on any given day, Jones says. As of February, it has dropped to about 6,500.
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Trying Again
Is a second-chance mortgage really worth it?
March 22nd, 2012
Las Vegans who are losing their homes in the Valley’s continuing mortgage crisis may get their second chance at the American Dream sooner than they think. In the city of second chances, this seems like a good and reasonable thing. But one day out of short sale or foreclosure? It’s gimmicky all right, but crazy as it sounds, it could work for some.
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The Lowdown on High-Rises
March 22nd, 2012
The Martin, formerly Panorama Tower North, recently unveiled its $3 million makeover, dashing its icy corporate style to create a warmer, community-minded residential space. The move, choreographed by Los Angeles design firm the Kor Group, was initiated to entice more buyers to the site just west of CityCenter.
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Real Estate
Silver State Sunshine?
March 1st, 2012
While Nevada, California and Arizona have long vied for top spots in the foreclosure mess, Florida—with its glut of empty condos—has also run in the top 10 for quite some time.
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The Obamacare Exodus
If the health-care law comes into effect, would our doctors really leave the business?
February 23rd, 2012
In 2014, most of the provisions of the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act—known to its close friends as Obamacare—are set to take effect. Of course, it’s possible that President Mitt Romney or the U.S. Supreme Court would have something to say about that, but health-care reform is close enough at hand that many in Nevada are already beginning to wonder—and worry—what it will mean for them.
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Is the Hospital Bill the Least of Our Problems?
February 23rd, 2012
Nevada leads the nation in overall bankruptcies, and if it trends lower than the national numbers in the percentage stemming from medical bills, that may be because there are so many other ways to lose it all. The nation’s worst foreclosure rate, highest unemployment and highest credit-card delinquency can lead to medical bankruptcies, but they create plenty of bankruptcies on their own without any help from the hospital, says Delwyn Webber of Rob Graham & Associates.
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Real Estate
Reopening Foreclosure
February 16th, 2012
The recent $25 billion foreclosure abuse settlement stemming from the robo-signing scandal and alleged improper evictions—a settlement hammered out between 49 states and five major banks—will yield $1.5 billion for Nevada.
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