north las vegas: Effective homeownership rate in Las Vegas perilously low, according to Fed study - 06/08/10 04:02 PM
Southern Nevada homeowners were dealt a hand in the real estate and mortgage tragedy for the ages that had very little chance of keeping them in the game for long. Severe price erosion has yanked tens of thousands way underwater – a suddenly everyday term in Sin City where the mortgage balance is higher than property value – that has pushed them to reconsider the merits of continuing to honor the original home loan agreement. Making payments on a, say, $400,000 mortgage when the house is only worth $200,000 is bothering increasingly many as something they probably should not be doing. … (8 comments)

north las vegas: Southern Nevada resale statistics all over the map in April - 05/11/10 01:32 PM
If the median price of a single-family house is used as a sole indicator for the health of a real estate market, then Sin City would be hailed as being on the mend. According to GLVAR, or Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors, Las Vegas median price grew to $142,000 in April, a strong 4.4% improvement from March. Not only that, it also is 0.2% higher from the same month last year, for the first time the year-over-year number is positive since 2007. Single-family house prices peaked in Las Vegas in February of 2007 at $310,000. The slide without a doubt … (6 comments)

north las vegas: High housing inventory could further delay expected market turnaround - 04/26/10 12:20 PM
The residential real estate market is on a turbo-charged roller coaster ride. One day the news is encouraging in the form of increased existing home sales over previous months. Or that housing prices are beginning to stabilize across the country. Pieces like that will get mortgage and housing industry observers and homeowners from Las Vegas to Miami all perked up and dreaming of a brighter tomorrow. And then out of nowhere all that good feeling and improved adrenalin flow is coldly shattered by another report saying that it's not over until it's over. And it may get worse before getting better.
… (4 comments)

north las vegas: Las Vegas real estate may not be as affordable today as it seems - 04/20/10 01:58 PM
The housing market bust in Southern Nevada - home to communities like Summerlin, Silverstone Ranch, Henderson, Mountains Edge, North Las Vegas and Rhodes Ranch - has taken down with it homeowners, mortgage lenders, real estate agents and builders, and a host of others closely tied to the industry. It has been as brutal a segment collapse as any in history. One of the most plundered victims has been the price. Homes in some of the newer subdivisions have lost as much as 60% of their value in just a few years.
To scores of once-happy and optimistic homeowners the word underwater … (4 comments)

north las vegas: Las Vegas underwater homeowners to float by 2020? It's possible - 03/26/10 08:19 AM
Many Southern Nevada - including Mountains Edge, Summerlin, North Las Vegas, Henderson, Canyon Gate and Spanish Trail - mortgage borrowers are still dealing with the effects of the great real estate meltdown. Short sale has recently become a more acceptable avenue for home loan banks to address the lingering issue of delinquency, giving people a somewhat more palatable way out of a tight spot. Despite that, high mortgage foreclosure filings continue clouding the sandy landscape of Las Vegas valley. The once in a lifetime housing upheaval is by no means over and done with yet.
Sin City's homeowners have watched in … (13 comments)

north las vegas: Will mortgage rates head higher soon? A tough one - 03/18/10 10:23 AM
The real estate market has been meandering along with little purpose for a long time, trying urgently to locate firm ground anywhere from which to launch something resembling a rebound. That it is in a position like this at all it can thank the government for. Despite what the FHA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have done, the Fed has easily been the main dynamo supplying badly needed liquidity to the secondary mortgage market, where it has been actively buying MBS, or mortgage-backed securities. It quickly and prudently filled in the void left by the private investor when the housing sector dramatically … (14 comments)

north las vegas: FHA mortgages in Las Vegas soon to cover wider range - 01/17/10 03:18 PM
Southern Nevada - with communities like Henderson, North Las Vegas, Mountains Edge, Rhodes Ranch, Summerlin and Anthem - real estate purchases have recently been financed increasingly with FHA products that offer mortgage applicants more considerate underwriting guidelines and lower down payments than the conventional ones. Without FHA it is hard to imagine what a darker place Las Vegas housing market would otherwise be in right now. And things are going to get even better soon.
HUD just announced an adjustment to the FHA home loan program. Presently, with some exceptions, FHA outlaws insuring a mortgage on a property owned by the … (6 comments)

north las vegas: Las Vegas rejected for HUD stimulus money - 01/14/10 11:15 AM
Southern Nevada jurisdictions of Clark County, Las Vegas, Henderson and North Las Vegas together turned in an application for $367 million from Washington to help battle the once-in-a-lifetime-tough mortgage foreclosure meltdown still roiling here. The stimulus money falls under the Neighborhood Stabilization Program, or NSP, run by HUD, or Department of Housing and Urban Development, and is funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
The basic idea is to assist in stabilizing hammered communities by converting vacant homes into affordable housing opportunities and stimulate their economies. State and local governments and non-profit developers would work together to buy land and … (8 comments)

north las vegas: Las Vegas real estate appeals to investors - 12/03/09 03:46 PM
Southern Nevada - including communities like Anthem, Henderson, North Las Vegas, Mountains Edge, Summerlin, Southern Highlands, Green Valley and Rhodes Ranch - housing market has become one of the favorite playing grounds for scores of investors. And for a good reason. Las Vegas property values have nose-dived to roughly the levels seen here about ten years ago, a time when they were deservedly called affordable. Now, as was the case then, a nice single-family, 3-bedroom house in a solid neighborhood can be bought for under $150,000.
This Las Vegas housing drift has definitely drawn the attention of real estate investors from … (6 comments)

north las vegas: Las Vegas luxury condo market warming up for new day - mortgage money still scarce - 11/22/09 09:38 AM
Southern Nevada - with communities of Mountains Edge, Summerlin, Henderson, Southern Highlands, North Las Vegas, Anthem and Green Valley - condominium segment bubbled up a little later than the single-family side, but its slide became equally devastating once it hit the slope down. Mortgage financing dried suddenly up, oversupply was horrendous and the mauled global economy forced many would-be buyers to the sidelines. The usual menu that real estate disasters are made of.
Now, though, things are cautiously looking up for the Las Vegas high-rise condo market. Sales in the third quarter climbed a decent 7%, as was reported by SalesTraq, … (6 comments)

north las vegas: Expanded tax credit enticing - Henderson mortgage applicants be advised - 11/19/09 04:05 PM
The drama is over for Las Vegas valley's - including Summerlin, Southern Highlands, Green Valley, North Las Vegas, Anthem and Mountain's Edge - residents. The first-time home buyer tax credit has been extended because many considered it a strong demand booster for the ailing housing market and more of the same is needed at least for the time being. In fact, it was expanded to include the move-up buyer as well, a factor that should further power the demand side. Let's look at a few of the more appealing aspects a move-up buyer can enjoy with the up to $6,500 tax … (2 comments)

north las vegas: Mortgage lenders rated lower by loan applicants - 11/17/09 09:45 AM
The housing debacle in Las Vegas and throughout the country is testing consumers' patience in a major way. Real estate values have eroded without mercy in many areas, to the tune of double digit percentages. Some Southern Nevada - featuring Summerlin, Mountains Edge, Henderson, North Las Vegas, Pahrump, Southern Highlands and Anthem - communities have seen drops in the 50 to 60% range. Many homeowners here and elsewhere, as a result of that, find themselves underwater, meaning the underlying mortgage is higher than the property's value. The foreclosure epidemic hasn't let up yet, either. There really isn't much to write home … (4 comments)

north las vegas: Las Vegas claims top spot in an upbeat housing study - 10/01/09 06:31 AM
Southern Nevada - including Henderson, Summerlin, Southern Highlands, Green Valley, Mountains Edge, Anthem and North Las Vegas - has graced the pages of many publications in recent years regarding the improbable real estate meltdown and subsequent mortgage foreclosure rampage here. It usually ended up topping many of the national statistics that measured how deeply these negative housing market conditions have affected the area. That has not been fun reading for the locals. Going from a boom town to a bust town so quickly can be rather deflating.
Las Vegas real estate news have got cautiously better, though, in recent months. And … (9 comments)

north las vegas: Mortgage securities purchasing by the Fed under discussion - 09/04/09 11:53 AM
The Federal Reserve has become the bedrock of the mortgage market, whether it likes it or not. It's buying just about all of the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac paper, the conforming kind, to provide badly needed liquidity in the secondary market. Private investors are almost non-existent over there; for lack of funds to participate, for still harboring loads of toxic home loan securities in their books or just being wary about getting back into the recently-devastated mortgage bond business.
In the Fed's August Federal Open Market Committee, or FOMC, meeting one of the topics around the table touched on the … (9 comments)

north las vegas: Las Vegas set to benefit from HUD foreclosure program - 09/27/08 03:00 PM
The Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD, has received a grant package that totals almost $4 billion to aid cities and states embroiled in mortgage foreclosures. These funds actually were put aside for this purpose in the recently passed Housing and Economic Recovery Act.
The effort has a fitting name, The Neighborhood Stabilization Program, and its aim is to let local and state governments use the available money under certain guidelines. They can tear down or restore abandoned homes and buy land temporarily to stabilize deteriorating areas and then promote redevelopment.
Possibly the more pro-active aspect of it is … (8 comments)