Las Vegas Sun NewsForeclosures are on the rise again in Las Vegas
Facebook
Fark
Digg
Reddit
Stumble
ASSOCIATED PRESS
A for sale sign stands in front of a bank-owned home in Las Vegas in 2008.
Wednesday
11 July 2012
9 p.m.
After months of steady decline, foreclosure activity picked up last month in Las Vegas.
Las Vegas moved from No. 15 to No. 13 on RealtyTrac's list of large metro areas with the highest foreclosure rates.
It’s not yet known if the June numbers signal a trend. Stricter paperwork requirements have made it harder for banks to foreclose on homes in Nevada, and local real estate agents are watching foreclosure filings to see if banks move to repossess a bigger chunk of backlogged homes.
''Lenders and servicers are slowly but surely catching up with the backlog of delinquent loans that under normal circumstances would have started the foreclosure process last year,'' RealtyTrac CEO Brandon Moore said in a statement. ''The increases in foreclosure starts in the first half of the year will likely translate into more short sales and bank repossessions in the second half of the year and into next year.''
For Las Vegas, the figures released Wednesday showed a reversal in pattern. Before inching back up last month, Las Vegas moved from No. 1 on the foreclosure list in January to No. 7 in April to No. 15 in May.
Notices of default, which are the first step in the foreclosure process, jumped in the Las Vegas area from 1,097 in May to 1,352 in June, RealtyTrac said. Total foreclosure filings increased from 3,122 to 3,181.
That means one in 264 homes in Las Vegas received a foreclosure notice in June, well above the national rate of one in 666 homes.
Still, foreclosure activity in Las Vegas is down markedly from June 2011, when 2,540 notices of default were issued.
The overall slowdown in bank takeovers is believed to be responsible for a smaller inventory of homes for sale and a resulting rise in price. The Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors said this week that the median price of a single-family home was $131,785 in June, up 3 percent from $128,000 in May and up 5.9 percent from one year ago.
Nationwide, while overall foreclosure activity fell last month based on year-over-year rates, foreclosure starts increased from May, according to RealtyTrac. National notices of default rose from 22,622 in May to 25,824 in June. Still, those numbers remained well off the pace of June 2011, when 30,202 notices were issued nationwide.
California moved to the No. 1 spot on the foreclosure list for the first time since RealtyTrac started issuing foreclosure reports in 2005, thanks to an 18 percent year-over-year increase in foreclosure starts there in June.
Share
Join the Discussion:
Previous Discussion:
Discussion 1 comments
Only trusted comments are displayed on this page. Untrusted comments have expired from this story.
Most Popular
- It’s back! New Wet ‘n’ Wild wins over frolickers thirsty for Vegas water park
- Firefly set to reopen on Paradise after salmonella outbreak
- Sex education bill loses its momentum, dies in Nevada Senate
- UNLV to face Arizona at home after deal falls apart to move football game
- Deadline strikes: A look at major legislation that made, missed cut
I guess the credit cards have been maxed out. No longer can they juggle those credit cards, cash advances, interest fees of 18% on those cards. The noose is tightening each and everyday. Playing the mega millions slots with the last $100. Lose house, declare bankruptcy. Welcome to America. The 3 class system has been dwindled to 2...the Steve Wynn class and the poor. That free market, open market system that "we" so pushed for has dealt us $5 Walmart T-shirts, middle class jobs shipped to Taiwan and a lower class with no health insurance, little money and no hope for the future.
FOREWARD 2012
While visiting Vegas this past week, I was shocked to see the number of new home developments underway amidst a backdrop of pending foreclosures and unreleased inventory held by the banks. What has changed so suddenly in Vegas that warrants the development of thousands of new homes? This kind of expansion without new industry to support it suggests that little was learned in the last housing crash? Interesting times ahead perhaps......
So many empty homes, so many homeless people.
Empty homes being bought by investors and rented to some of the worst of the worst. Neighborhoods going downhill...fast, all across the valley. You couldn't give me a house in NLV.
Regular people can't buy these homes because the banks, realtors have conspired to sell it to cash only investors. The headache of buying a foreclosed or short sale home is a migraine and a half. Usually you are strung along only to have your bid rejected 4 months later. People are buying new to avoid the hassle and avoid buying in neighborrhoods that are entirely investor owned with low class renters surrounding them.
TomD
Wow Did you nail it with your deduction of what is goin on in this town.
I was 1 of the thousands that were jacked around trying to purchase SFR in henderson. Three of my bids were squelched with the only explanation given as (cash customer) aka..investor
And NLV was never even on my realtors punchlist concerning my search
Seriously if they started a new development in jean,I would be more inclined to build there,then take occupancy in some of these visually appealing,yet complete shxxhole neighbourhoods.My realtor told me that 1 of the neighborhoods we looked at by tuscany was 30% rentals are you kidding me!!!
peace out
I have been trying to buy a house for over a month now. I am always being out bid by CASH investors. The banks are creating an inventory shortage by holding on to houses and trickeling out only a few homes at time resulting in unrealistic pricing and bidding wars. If a cash buyer is able to offer more than a house is worth, the deal is off the table for the average home buyer with a conventional loan. What is the use of having a low interest rate if you cant finance a house? How much longer are the banks going to be allowed to scew the middle guy?! At this point Las Vegas is not going to be an option for me and it would be easier to leave the state. I hope Vegas dries up and blows away along with the investors that are in cahoots with the banks. Angry, You bet I am!