How long do you think it will take for the housing market and job market will recover in Las Vegas?|106908

Just curious to see if it will likely improve sometime 5 years from now. What_s your take on this? Do you think Las Vegas economy will kick back sooner or later?

Gaming revenue is back to what it was exactly 5 years ago, so one guess is that it may take 5 years to recover. However, I don_t think it will recover. People are going to be hesitant to build a casino in the next five years.
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This depression and the preceding explosion in money has alerted the rest of the nation to the value of gambling. States in the Northeast have turned to gambling in a big way to take care of their gambling problems. Las Vegas will continue to appeal to the big time baccarat players who are looking for glamor and high life, but the millions of penny slot and blackjack players will just go to their hometown casinos.
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I know that Las Vegas Sands which owns the Venetian and Palazzo has 3000 slot machines in Vegas. They also have 3000 slot machines in their slot parlor in Bethlehem PA, in an old steel mill within driving distance of NYC. Venetian/Palazzo also has 250 table games in Vegas, but PA just gave permission for them to put 250 table games in PA. The slots in PA take in more revenue than the ones in Vegas. It may take some time, but if they cultivate players from NYC, they may do something similar.
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Multiply that story times dozens of casinos around the country. Why would companies risk it all in a remote place in the desert that depends on air traffic.
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The five diamond resorts will be here ten years from now, but the _meat and potatoes casinos_ will be gone.
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You can see it happening in a smaller market like Reno which is much less dependent on air traffic. Gaming revenue has been dropping since the summer of 2006, well before the general depression hit. Competition with Indian casinos in Sacramento is wiping out a market that hasn_t built a new casino since 1996. Thirty years from now, gaming revenue will be the same or less than it is today.
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In a similar way there will be high end casinos that appeal to the elite in Vegas, but i doubt that revenue will ever exceed the peak in 2007 (excluding inflation). Blackjack and slots, and other traditional games plunged in Vegas, but Baccarat rode out the recession without as serious damage.

I hope the sooner the better but what takes three years to hurt will take at least twice as long to repair.