Focus Property Group is reassessing the timing of its Pahrump project in light of the slack housing market, according to a prepared statement.

When the development agreement was approved by the Nye County Commission in 2006, company CEO John Ritter had estimated construction of homes wouldn't begin until 2009.

However, company officials had talked about starting work on some of the infrastructure, like streets, water and sewer, sometime in 2008.

"You have the combination of both the residential and housing market and the lending market experiencing conditions we didn't really anticipate in 2006. So there's no question the overall time line of the project, we're going to be at least a year behind or longer," said Mark Fiorentino, senior vice-president of government affairs for Focus Group.

The Pahrump project calls for up to 5,800 homes around Highway 160 and Manse Road.

Fiorentino said a statement in another Pahrump publication, that the project has been delayed, indefinitely isn't accurate. Focus is currently doing pre-development work, like engineering the streets, the water and sewer lines, he said.

Lynn Purdue, whose public relations firm Purdue Marion and Associates represents Focus, issued the following statement:

"Based on current market conditions we, like most residential developers and builders, are assessing timing on all of our projects, including this one. We have not yet established a new schedule for the project but we are actively analyzing ongoing market conditions and will develop it when timing is right and demand exists.

"We believe in the long-term strength of the Las Vegas and Pahrump markets. We feel that with the tremendous growth on the strip this market will tend to recover faster than most. However, current indicators are that the residential market still will be challenged this year, and those challenges likely will continue into 2009," Purdue said.