Las Vegas Sun NewsLas Vegas house prices continue to slide, down 9 percent from year ago
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Tuesday
8 November 2011
9:31 a.m.
Las Vegas-area home prices continued their downward trend in October, the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors reported Monday.
In a market hit by high unemployment (13.6 percent) and an elevated foreclosure rate, the Realtors said the median price of single-family homes sold in October was $121,000. That’s down 1.9 percent from $123,400 in September and down 9 percent from $133,000 a year ago.
The median price of local condominiums and townhomes sold in October was $59,000, up 4.4 percent from $56,500 in September, but down 9.2 percent from $65,000 one year ago.
The Realtors’ report focuses on existing homes as opposed to new homes.
The Realtors also said home sales continued locally in October at a brisk pace, driven by investors buying up foreclosures, although the sales pace declined from September.
The GLVAR said the total number of local homes, condominiums and townhomes sold in October was 3,881. That’s down from 4,108 total sales in September — but up from 3,385 total sales a year ago.
GLVAR President Paul Bell said the sales decline in October from September is a normal seasonal development.
“For at least the last seven years, we’ve sold fewer homes in October than we did during September,” Bell said in a statement. “But I think the significant thing here is that October sales are up substantially from last year.”
Local housing analyst and SalesTraq President Larry Murphy, in the meantime, said in his latest report on the Las Vegas market that its inventory will likely be inflated by foreclosures for some time.
“In less than four years, more than 100,000 homes in Las Vegas have been lost through foreclosure. That’s 18 percent of our privately owned housing stock: that’s nearly one home in five. And we’re nowhere near finished with foreclosures. In all likelihood, we have another 100,000 yet to go, and at the current rate, that’s another four years,” Murphy said.
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I wouldn't touch a house in Las Vegas now. You think you're getting a deal, a nice buy, heavily discounted. You are most likely buying on a street where investors have scooped up the remaining houses and rented them to scum. Barbecues in the garage, 3 families living in one house and on it goes. Unless its a real upscale community, you're asking for big trouble unless you find out who and what owns the homes surrounding you and how many are rented out. Renters, by and large don't give a sh#t about maintaining a property. The investor is in California with other problems on his mind. All he cares about is a warm body and a cleared check.
Buying real estate in Las Vegas is a nightmare right now.
I'm seeing a lot of people walk away from their homes again. These are people who can make the payment but see that they will never get a return on their investment so why bother paying more, when you can walk down the street and pick up a house 50% off.
I'd stay away from housing because at this point 30 years is a long time and no one knows what's going to happen in the next 5 years.
Let the banks hold them. Let the investors hold them. Rent them, trash them, and move to the next one.
This is impossible!!! I'm pretty sure I read not that long ago that home values were leveling off and this is a good time to buy.
How can this be?
Earlier this year the Mortgage Bankers Association predicted mortgage rates would be around 5-1/2% and by 2012 would be closer to 6%.
The reality is that all the experts really aren't.
@Green617
The so called expert of experts on the economy, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said 4 years ago "housing is not an issue". He also said "hiring will pick up in late 2009." They've all been wrong at just about every step. I'm still waiting for the results from the 700 billion dollar stimulus 3+ years ago. I don't see any, do you?
The fact is no one knows what's going to happen next week, next month or next year. Even so called experts on the housing have been dead wrong at every step. Yet each month we get a new guess from these geniuses.
It was all these 'investors' that played a huge part in getting Las Vegas into the fix it's now in (And we can ignore the Righties' cockamamie mantra that it was Big Gov "forcing banks" to make loans in the ghetto -- That's a canard; the sleazy banksters needed zero help pushing their no-doc loans and refi's onto EVERYBODY).
Who ever said investors/"the market" is smart? They're not. Too many of them are idiots chasing the next "big thing" and believing they can get amazing returns, just because during a brief time in history a few people made money off a bubble. These investors are back. But don't be fooled: They are no long-term answer to anything. Until the Valley's economy actually warrants any optimism, regard whatever the "investors" are doing as an unuseful distraction.
TomD said it in his first post...you never know who you're living next door to in Vegas. Do some research before you buy. There are a ton of loser renters living in some nice neighborhoods in Vegas.
DTJ is also correct that investors are what caused this problem in the first place...he / she lost me when they started their nonsense "righties" rant.
I believe realtors are now to blame for the current situation. They are the ones buying the homes and telling buyers they are bidding too low and will not even submit their price offer. Dont the realtors work for the buyer?
Brian D,
You can't call that a rant -- the part about righties was only 1.5 sentences long. And I use "righties" as a term of endearment (makes innocent face).
national "occupy your home for free" movement begins 01/01/2012
http://caliscreaming.com/2011/11/10/cali...