From the Las Vegas Visitor Authority: December 2024 Las Vegas Visitor Statistics Closing out the year with Dec visitation of 3.4M visitors (+0.2% YoY), Las Vegas hosted approx. 41.7M visitors for the year, up 2.1% from last year’s 40.8M visitors. emphasis added Click on graph for larger image. Visitor traffic was up 0.2% compared to last December.  Visitor traffic was down 3.2% compared to December 2019. Annual visitor traffic was down 2.0% compared to 2019. Convention traffic was up 42.7% compared to December 2023, and down 9.1% compared to December 2019.   Annual convention traffic was down 9.8% compared to 2019.

Today, in the Calculated Risk Real Estate Newsletter: Final Look at Local Housing Markets in December and a Look Ahead to January Sales A brief excerpt: After the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) releases the monthly existing home sales report, I pick up additional local market data that is reported after the NAR. This is the final look at local markets in December. Here is a look at months-of-supply using NSA sales. Since this is NSA data, it is likely this will be the seasonal low for months-of-supply. There is much more in the article.

From the NAR: Pending Home Sales Fell 5.5% in December Pending home sales retracted 5.5% in December – following four consecutive months of increases – according to the National Association of REALTORS®. All four U.S. regions experienced month-over-month losses in transactions, with the most significant fall in the West. Year-over-year, contract signings reduced in all four U.S. regions, with the Midwest seeing the largest decrease. Year-over-year, pending transactions declined 5.0%. Last year’s cyclical low point occurred in July 2024 at 70.2. An index of 100 is equal to the level of contract activity in 2001. emphasis added Note: Contract signings usually lead sales by about 45 to 60 days, so this would usually be for closed sales in January and February.

From the BEA: Gross Domestic Product, 4th Quarter and Year 2024 (Advance Estimate) Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 2.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2024 (October, November, and December), according to the advance estimate released by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the third quarter, real GDP increased 3.1 percent. Real GDP increased 2.8 percent in 2024 (from the 2023 annual level to the 2024 annual level), compared with an increase of 2.9 percent in 2023. The increase in real GDP in 2024 reflected increases in consumer spending, investment, government spending, and exports. Imports increased. emphasis added PCE increased at a 4.2% annual rate, and residential investment increased at a 5.3% rate. The advance Q4 GDP report, with 2.3% annualized increase, was below expectations. I'll have more later ...