Raw land supplies tighten

Tight supplies of raw land and white-hot demand for new housing may be setting up a classic supply-and-demand squeeze in northern Nevada.

At the same time, strong sales figures might entice some of the big

national homebuilders into the Reno market as early as next spring

setting up even more competition for residential land.

Mark Krueger, senior advisor, land and investment for Grubb & Ellis

Nevada Commercial Group said last week that the tight supplies of land

already are reflected in several measures:

* The number of subdivisions where building is taking place in the

Reno-Sparks area is expected to be 62 by early 2003. By comparison, 85

subdivisions were active recently as 2000.

* The average price of a 6,000-square-foot finished lot in the region

today is $48,000, an increase of 9.5 percent from a year earlier. By

next year, the cost is projected to rise another 12 percent to $53,800.