It’s been 30 days since I had to pull back in certain areas due to my son’s burns. I am happy to say that my son is now out of the hospital, that he will probably not need a second surgery, and that one arm, at least, is healing very well. I was forced to limit my activities to serving my clients and taking care of my son; unfortunately my blog and media interviews had to be set aside for a bit. Even my Top 10 suffered as we could only update it weekly. I’m happy to say I’m back, and I’m ready to ramp up my activities – yeah!

I want to sincerely thank some really incredible Las Vegas Advisor readers. I received many kind inquiries, and so many “get well wishes” from people I’ve never met except via e-mail. One reader actually apologized for intruding on me, and asked me to assign an agent to help him. But LVA readers are preferred clients, and I no longer allow an agent to be your first point-of-contact. I was happy to help him, as I’ve continued to help my other clients. I can’t express how much my reader’s compassion and kindness meant to me; I feel like part of a big LVA family. Thank you to each of you who wished us well – I won’t forget.

Wow, who could have imagined that our economy would get so out-of-whack so quickly? I was able to follow the financial news on my Blackberry in my son’s hospital room; some days it’s very hard to predict whether we’ll survive this roller-coaster ride. Las Vegas is a great investment; my faith has been rewarded as sales have outperformed national trends. But some days this ride can give one butterflies in the tummy.

Nationally, housing sales were down for June. The market reacted very unfavorably to yesterday’s news. But, again, who cares how many homes sold nationally when you’re looking to buy your second home in Las Vegas? June sales were down nationally by 2.6%; with that news and $126, I can buy a barrel of light, sweet crude oil.

Sales in Las Vegas rose again in June. In fact, June sales were comparable to sales in August, 2006 – the peak of the market, and just before this coaster headed down that really steep part of the track where we hold on for dear life. Prices have fallen back to where they were in mid-2004. However, prices aren’t falling as fast as they were, and sales remain strong. As I always say, the pendulum will swing the other way again…it has to. But some days you have to wonder how many twists and turns this roller coaster will take before it stops.

I expect to see July sales slow somewhat as our typical busy season draws to a close. But I expect sales to remain much stronger than last year at this time, now that the “sales bottom” is behind us.

Some of this feels like typical Presidential election year scare tactics; but thanks to $4 per gallon gas, a mortgage market meltdown and a few other headaches, some of this feels very, very real.

I hope your family is faring well in this economy.

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