Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Las Vegas Economy Among Worst in the World

Las Vegas’ economic performance is fourth from the bottom in newly released world rankings, reports the Las Vegas Sun.

Vegas has truly beome an inflation supported city, as  Bernanke's QE2 starts making its way through the system, I fully expect the city to show a rapid rebound. Conventions will be big again and the demand to hold cash will reverse from being very high to just the opposite. And when you want to get cash out of your hands quickly, Las Vegas is the place.

Bottom line: I'm bullish on the future for Vegas, but right now it's pretty ugly. Here's more from the Sun:

 Before the recession, in measurements analyzing 1993 through 2007, Las Vegas ranked No. 14 in the world among 150 metropolitan areas studied by the Brookings Institution and London School of Economics.
Las Vegas fell to 128th in the rankings during the recession in 2008 and 2009, and since the recovery has begun, its ranking has fallen to 146th. That’s better than only Dublin, Ireland (150); Dubai (149); Barcelona, Spain (148); and Thessaloniki, Greece (147)...
The report said the patchy recovery that took hold in most U.S. cities in 2009 and 2010 didn’t happen in Las Vegas. The city’s income levels declined 1.2 percent despite an increase nationally, and the employment rate dipped 3 percent, much greater than the national decline of 0.7 percent.


The report also cited Las Vegas’ foreclosure problem with the second highest share of bank-owned homes in the country and more than two-thirds of residential mortgage holders owing more than their homes are worth.
Sounds like a buying opportunity to me.

(ViaNick)

5 comments:

  1. I can appreciate the contrarian point of view. But, too much capacity and too few airline flights will make it slow going.

    In December of 2007 there were 558,317 seats per week. In April 2011 there will be 474,795. Since 12/07 the Palazzo, Aliante Station, Encore, M Hotel, and CityCenter have opened.

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  2. Is hotel and airfare the only way to take advantage of Vegas bullishness?

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  3. DC, since Vegas' economy relies almost completely on tourism, its volume of visitors (reflected by air travel and hotel vacancy numbers) is particularly crucial.

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  4. Recently, Pennsylvania (and I suppose, some other states) have legalized gambling, so citizens no longer have to go to Vegas to do that... the demand for Vegas' offerings is thus reduced even more than just national economics numbers might reveal.

    By the time Vegas recovers, there might be new convention locales, even more convenient to the country's densest population centers. Texans and Californians might keep using Vegas, but the Northeast is likely to pick a more local venue by then.

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  5. Foreclosure, It seems half the country is in it and the other half is trying to make a killing on it. The crisis though provides the opportunity to purchase a house that was all but impossible for many to afford in the boom years.


    foreclosure attorney new york

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