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September 30, 2011

Thanks for stopping by to read the Friday Figures! All information from the GLVAR MLS system. This is the real deal: the no-nonsense information you and your REALTOR should know before touring, making an offer, or preparing a listing this weekend. You can see me tell you about the figures live on Getting REAL (Estate) in Vegas on the Vegas Video Network today and every Friday at 2:00 PM. Today we get deeper into the topic of new construction, and you’ll hear the story of The Air Conditioner Lottery.

Summary: The number of available properties continues to slide, now at 13541. There is still just a little evidence that home prices are starting to tick upwards, in part due to slightly higher prices on foreclosed homes — up 7% since July! The good news keeps coming: the number of short sales awaiting lender approval has dropped under 8000. It will still be a big task to clear the system of these short sales, considering that more come on the market every day and an estimated 60-70% of Nevada homeowners are “underwater” on their mortgages.

The News: Remember that tomorrow, new FHA loan limits go into effect. Locally, the new limit will be $287,500. Many consider this an issue because large downpayments are an obstacle for some buyers, but since 11668 of our 13541 available properties are priced under $287,500 I don’t consider this to be an issue locally. Rates on conventional mortgages have hit yet another all time low, now at 4.01% on a 30 year fixed-rate mortgage.

Nationwide, the number of pending sales is at a 4 month low, partly due to Hurricane Irene. Locally, we are still moving at a brisk clip: sales are at a 5 year high and we have plenty of contingent and pending contracts waiting to close. Meanwhile, the amount of so-called “shadow inventory” is down.

Programs designed to prevent foreclosure are not reaching nearly as many people as hoped, and to add insult to injury 1 in 5 people who get a mortgage modification re-default! And even worse, the current spike in Bank of America foreclosure activity (for more, look towards the end of this story) may be a side effect of their recent $8,500,000,000 settlement with investors.

Oh, and for those of you who just can’t get enough What Were They Thinking, enjoy these home “improvement” nightmares!

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#126: RAW:Vegas; What First Friday Should Be

September 28, 2011

When we first moved to Las Vegas, we were really excited about First Friday, the once-a-month art gathering in downtown Las Vegas. But after a few visits, it felt less about art and more about miserable-looking 20-somethings in skinny jeans and black eye-shadow. In this episode of Living in Las Vegas, we find an art event that First Friday should aspire to: RAW:Vegas. (We also introduce a brand new segment to the show! How cool is that?!?!) Show notes:

  • Visit LASIK of Nevada (50% Off Premium LASIK + $200 more if you mention VVN)

  • LiLV Stuff
  • 97 / LiLV Pool (76)

  • Mark Your Calendar: VVN One-Year Anniversary Broadcast (viewers will have a chance to win a Roku player!) - SATURDAY, OCTOBER 8, Show starts at 8:00pm
  • Club Nikki closing
  • Texas is moving to Vegas
  • Listener Email: Religion and schools
  • Preview New Segment: Ted’s Tourist Tips and Insider’s Insight
  • RAW:Vegas - What First Friday Should Be
icon for podpress  Show #126 [70:18m]: Download


Filed Under Announcement, Audio, First Friday, LiLV, Live Streaming, Moving to LV, Shows, Vegas Video Network, Video · 2 Comments  

September 23, 2011

Time for Friday Figures! All information from the GLVAR MLS system. It’s what you and your REALTOR should know before touring, making an offer, or preparing a listing this weekend. You can see me tell you about the figures live on Getting REAL (Estate) in Vegas on the Vegas Video Network today and every Friday at 2:00 PM. Today we talk about new construction and ways to reduce your heating and cooling bills.

Summary: Available properties were down again this week to 13588, but more importantly the “Law of Supply and Demand” seems to finally be causing prices to tick upward! It should be no shock that with available inventory going down, the number of properties under contract is going up. That’s a good thing, because it means those listings aren’t just expiring but they’re (probably) going to be sold! Expect a spike of closings next week as institutional sellers want to get properties off the books for the end of the 3rd quarter of the year. The 4th quarter is around the corner, so let’s see how the year end plays out! Some of those sales are finding their way into the rental market, but we still have stable rents and about 9 weeks of inventory.

The News: Banks and State Attorneys General are sitting down to talk about a possible mortgage fraud settlement again. But will the settlement have teeth or will it just let the banks get away with business as usual? In other foreclosure news, I hope nobody is surprised by the fact that bigger loans are taking longer to foreclose.

Low, low mortgage rates may be encouraging buyers, but about 4 out of 5 applications are for people trying to refinance! However, many people can’t refinance due to lack of equity and underwriting changes. Federal programs that were supposed to help are not helping as many people as they were supposed to.

Some of the housing price indices are showing small increases in prices in July of this year. In fact, local statistics show a increases for non-distressed properties. The number of sales was also up, but keep in mind that last year we had unusually low sales due to the end of the Home Buyers Tax Credit.

Two Senators have introduced legislation that would add sexual orientation and gender identity to the classes of people protected by fair housing law. Some states already have laws on the books, but this would be Federal and would have all the Federal fines attached. If you have a strong opinion, contact your Senators.

In local news, the unemployment rate in Clark County is up to 14.2%.

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#125: Apparently, I Can’t Name That Tune!

September 21, 2011

After some good news from Roku and a Living in Las Vegas investigation about the sexual-innuendos found on the 215 freeway bridges, we get up on stage and NAME. . .THAT. . .TUNE! (Well, one of us did. . .kind of.) Show notes:

icon for podpress  Show #125 [60:23m]: Download


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September 21, 2011

Once again it is time for Friday Figures! All information from the GLVAR MLS system. Here’s what you and your REALTOR should know before touring, making an offer, or preparing a listing this weekend. You can see me tell you about the figures live on Getting REAL (Estate) in Vegas on the Vegas Video Network today and every Friday at 2:00 PM. Today’s show is about “Due Diligence” and listing errors that can cost you.

Summary: Available properties slid to 13754, a change from 15042 a year ago. The median price of single family homes is up just a little bit, and the number of non-distressed properties for sale is up (those things are probably related). The number of super-cheap properties available is still alarming, but not so bad when you consider year-over-year changes. The change in the number of properties under contract is unremarkable until you consider that the number of contingent and pending short sales is down over 11% from last September. Even though prices are down from last year, the number of sales is up. This promises to be the biggest year for sales since the boom ended.

The News: Foreclosure starts are up sharply from June (but still down from a year ago), particularly in the Western states — if you guessed that includes Nevada, you’re right! The biggest factor is that Bank of America is ramping up its foreclosure pipeline. Since it does take time to process those foreclosures, it would be reasonable to expect a surge of bank owned property after the first of the year. Since over 60% of Nevada homeowners have negative equity (”are underwater”), and current lending standards are not what they were for your grandparents, foreclosures and short sales will be with us for the foreseeable future.

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#124: A Love Connection at the LiLV/VVN Meetup?

September 16, 2011

Oh sure, we deliver a nice balance of information and opinion about what it’s like to live in Las Vegas. . .and we’ve even helped a handful of folks get a job. But what about love? Well, in this episode of Living in Las Vegas, we link the names of the many people you’ve heard us talk about with their photos AND, perhaps, bring about our first love connection. Show notes:

icon for podpress  Show #124 [87:22m]: Download


Filed Under Audio, First Friday, Foreclosures, LiLV, Listener Meetup, Live Streaming, Station Casinos, Vegas Video Network, Video · Leave a Comment  

September 9, 2011

Who’s up for some Friday Figures? All information from the GLVAR MLS system. It’s critical data you and your REALTOR need before touring, making an offer, or preparing a listing this weekend. You can see me tell you about the figures live on Getting REAL (Estate) in Vegas on the Vegas Video Network today and every Friday at our new time, 2:00 PM. Today we’re talking about condos, and future trends in real estate

Summary: Available properties dropped ever so slightly to 13920. It looks like a decrease in bank owned properties — particularly condos — is the reason for the recent declines. Will that continue? Nobody really knows. As expected, the decrease in available units was offset by an increase in units under contract to be purchased. This is normal. We did have a lower than typical number of closes in the last week, partly due to heavy closings last week and partly due to the short work week. The number of closes in the last 30 days is still stable.

The News: Mortgage rates are at yet another low of 4.12%, a level not seen since the 1950s. The problem? Few people can actually qualify. As one expert put it: “[H]ousing’s recovery is all about jobs and consumer confidence. It is about the bigger economy, which needs to improve before anyone can or will want to buy a house.”

Hotel occupancy rose 6.6% nationally year over year, resulting in an 11% jump in revenue per available room! Because the Las Vegas economy depends heavily on tourism, it is worth hoping that means our economy will start to fare better.

And one bit of foreclosure fraud news: the generally liberal 9th Court of Appeals has tossed out a lawsuit against MERS and Bank of America, saying that the “plaintiffs allege that aspects of the MERS system are fraudulent, they cannot establish that they were misinformed about the MERS system, relied on any misinformation in entering into their home loans, or were injured as a result of the misinformation.” In short, if you knew more about how it works, would you have not gotten the mortgage? Can you show that the MERS system actually cost you any money or physical injury? No. MERS may cause confusion in the short sale and/or foreclosure process, but they don’t cost homeowners any money. Under that logic, I will be very interested in seeing what happens when cash-strapped county recorder’s offices around the nation go after MERS in court for failing to pay recording fees!

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#123: Road Trip [or How to Provoke a Steer to Charge Your Car]

September 7, 2011

Because Las Vegas is close to so many other cool places, for this episode of Living in Las Vegas, we thought we’d take a bit of a road trip over the Labor Day weekend. We visited Flagstaff, saw Huey Lewis and the News, and spent some time in Sedona. On the way home, we thought we’d stop by the Grand Canyon. That’s when the trouble started. Show notes:

icon for podpress  Show #123 [78:38m]: Download


Filed Under Audio, Facebook, Hoover Dam, Lake Mead, LiLV, Listener Meetup, Live Streaming, Tours, Vegas Video Network, Video · Leave a Comment  

September 2, 2011

Welcome to Friday Figures! All information from the GLVAR MLS system. Here’s the no-nonsense, no spin information you and your REALTOR need before touring, making an offer, or preparing a listing this weekend. You can see me tell you about the figures live on Getting REAL (Estate) in Vegas on the Vegas Video Network today and every Friday at our new time, 3:30 PM. Today we have important information for Nevada homeowners about state programs to help them avoid foreclosure. Don’t miss it!

Summary: While last month we had 14202 available units, now we have only 13960. While it is of course disappointing that last week’s price increase on single family homes didn’t stick, there’s still fewer homes available for less than $100k, and a slow uptrend for condo prices. The huge rises in foreclosed inventory have not continued. We had another simply huge week for closes to end the month, partly to get properties off the books before the end of the month and partly so people can start moving in over the long holiday weekend. By the way, folks, Happy Labor Day and drive safely (and soberly! Metro will have traffic stops!)

The News: I hope nobody is surprised to hear that short sales are on the rise nationwide. This may be part of the reason that the average foreclosure time is up to 599 days — this time may include a failed short sale. Remember, the average time in Nevada is MUCH shorter because we do not have judicial foreclosure. Good news, however, is that Fannie Mae is reporting fewer delinquent loans! In fact, bank owned inventory is down in general.

Federal regulators are finally wading into the mortgage backed securities mess because Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have lost so much money on them. Coincidentally, Nevada is re-examining a settlement they made with B of A regarding mortgage backed securities, alleging that B of A “misrepresented” documents. I think the word they were looking for is “lied.” Even the FDIC is giving B of A a hard time these days.

Some home price indexes are showing a rise in prices, but many feel this rise is only seasonal, and will fade with fall colors. Other sources suggest that prices are still going down, just not as much as they used to. Inventory is down nationwide, which may have something to do with the higher prices.

Mortgage rates are unchanged this week at 4.22%, near historic lows.

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