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October 28, 2011
Happy Nevada Day! Let’s celebrate the founding of our great state with some Friday Figures! All information from the GLVAR MLS system. It’s what you and your REALTOR need to know before touring, making an offer, or preparing a listing in the Las Vegas Valley this weekend. Join me as I talk about the figures live on Getting REAL (Estate) in Vegas on the Vegas Video Network today and every Friday at 2:00 PM! Today I’ll be talking about the upcoming HUD auction where you can buy a home for $100 down, and changes in the HARP refinancing program. Be sure to join us!
Summary: State and county offices are closed for Nevada Day, which means no closed properties today. However it’s still month end, so escrow companies were under a lot of pressure to cram 5 days of work into 4, and Monday promises to be a busy day for them as well. Even with the short work week, they managed to close well over 900 transactions. The number of available properties did drop slightly to 13170. One pleasant surprise is a drop in the number of condos available for less than $100,000. The number of homes under contract is down, but that just reflects the strong number of closings we are seeing. By the way, the number of short sales under contract is also down and the number of closed short sales is up; that means banks are actually slogging through the backlog of short sales. Will they really get every Nevada file out the door within 90 days? Don’t count on it, but they’re getting closer.
The News: The experts see multiple signs of a real estate rebound, even though we have yet to really clear the foreclosure crisis and the aftermath of underwater homes. This is despite the fact that home sales were down in September — but up from last year.
On the foreclosure front, MERS faces yet another lawsuit, this one in Delaware where the AG (who happens to be the Vice President’s son) says they “engaged and continues to engage in a range of deceptive trade practices that sow confusion among consumers, investors and other stakeholders in the mortgage finance system, damage the integrity of Delaware’s land records, and lead to unlawful foreclosure practices.” Since it can be hard to keep up with all the foreclosure fraud and financial crisis figures, here’s a handy cheat sheet. Sorry for the accidental pun.
October 21, 2011
Time flies, and it’s already time for Friday Figures! All information from the GLVAR MLS system. It’s what you and your REALTOR need to know before touring, making an offer, or preparing a listing in the Las Vegas Valley this weekend. Join me as I talk 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 have great stuff for both buyers and sellers, so be sure to join us!
Summary: There wasn’t a big change in the number of available units, now at 13218. A year ago we had 15951, a drop of over 20%. The number of properties under contract remains strong, as do current sales. Normally the last week of the month is a very busy time for closing properties — partly because banks want to get it off the books before the end of the month. However, next week the County Recorder’s office and most title/escrow offices will be closed on Friday the 28th in observance of Nevada Day. Be patient with your escrow officers if you have a property under contract.
The News: This week we had data on existing home sales for September. While sales were down from August, they were up from a year ago. And remember, Vegas is on track for a record year of sales. Unfortunately, it looks like prices are also slightly down.
Another MERS lawsuit has been filed, this time in Ohio. However, MERS isn’t the only defendant: the suit names pretty much every big bank in the nation, alleging they “systematically broke chains of land title throughout Ohio counties’ public land records by creating gaps due to missing mortgage assignments they failed to record, or by recording patently false or misleading mortgage assignments.” It will be interesting to see what happens next, because banks are pushing for immunity from such suits as part of the foreclosure fraud settlement.
Some experts say real estate won’t recover until something is done about the so-called “shadow inventory.” Here’s one of the best and most sensible things I have read recently about shadow inventory. The short version? It’s not nearly as bad as some people want you to think.
There is some evidence that banks are approving more short sales — a critical step towards recovery in markets with a lot of “underwater” homes such as Vegas.
#128: What to do When Your Studio Dies
October 19, 2011
In a first for the Living in Las Vegas Podcast, after over six years of successful shows, we have a complete studio failure at the PodWorx studio (vs. the Vegas Video Network studio). This episode is the result of that event. (Anybody want to buy a $7900 computer. . .that doesn’t power up?)
October 18, 2011
Thank goodness it’s Friday Figures! All information from the GLVAR MLS system. It’s what you and your REALTOR need to know before touring, making an offer, or preparing a listing in the Las Vegas Valley this weekend. Join me as I talk 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 will focus primarily on sellers. Thinking of putting property on the market? Be sure to tune in!
Summary: The number of available properties slides once more, landing at 13254 this week. However, the number of properties under contract to be sold is up, hopefully to eventually move on to “sold” status. No surprise, the number of sold units has dropped as we get into the middle of the month. Prices for available units — particularly bank owned properties — are staying at slightly higher levels than we saw over the summer.
The News: While foreclosure filings may be up from last month (unless they aren’t), they are down sharply from last year. Foreclosures are also taking longer. On the upside, this may mean that banks are being more careful about their paperwork, avoiding mistakes and illegal foreclosures (probably not). On the downside, it will take longer for them to work through the backlog. As long as banks dump thousands of foreclosures into our real estate markets, it will be difficult to have a real estate recovery.
Speaking of foreclosures, the latest research would indicate that the foreclosure crisis was not I repeat not caused by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, or the Community Reinvestment Act. Those who point to the CRA ignore the fact that the law was in effect for decades before there was ever a problem. In fact, most criticism I have seen of CRA is little more than dressed up racism with a hint of class-ism.
Having a hard time keeping up with all the Federal foreclosure programs that were supposed to help you out? Here’s a handy rundown of what they all are and whatever became of them. As a bonus, there’s a section about the ideas that sounded good but never happened. I would have liked to have seen links to the programs that are still running. Thankfully, Google and Bing can hook you up.
We continue to have strong sales here in Vegas, propelled by — you guessed it — investors with cash in hand. Some of these investors plan to rent out the properties, and others plan to “fix and flip.” However, Vegas is not the only housing market where available inventory is going down.
#127: Who Is On Your “List”? Part 2
October 12, 2011
[Had a technical issue (thanks Cox) so we have a part 1 and part 2 for the video.]
PART TWO:
After a quick review of the Vegas Video Network One-Year Anniversary Party (and a tip on the Roku trivia question. . .which is still on-going), we sidestep food poisoning, wonder what’s happening to the Tropicana, go behind-the-scenes at G2E, and talk about some guy named Justin (who is on some list). Then, we introduce our new segment featuring Access Vegas‘ Ted Newkirk, “Ted’s Tourist Tips” and “Insider Insights”. Show notes:
- Visit LASIK of Nevada (50% Off Premium LASIK + $200 more if you mention VVN)
- LiLV Stuff
- NEW TOLL-FREE Listener Line: 866.966.4599
- Sign up for Email Alerts (form found on right side of our website)
- Get your questions answered: OnAirQ@LivingInLV.com
- Visit our FACEBOOK Page: Facebook.com/VegasVideoNetwork
- 83 / LiLV Pool (6x)
- VVN One-Year Anniversary Party recap
- Tropicana president resigns
- G2E behind-the-scenes from the IGT booth
- Food poisoning at PF Changs?
- Justin Timberlake and Friends and the “list” JT is on
- Nevada gaming down, thanks to the Chinese
- Listener Email: Follow up on religion and schools
- Ted’s Tourist Tips and Insider’s Insight
#127: Who Is On Your “List”? Part 1
October 12, 2011
[Had a technical issue (thanks Cox) so we have a part 1 and part 2 for the video.]
PART ONE:
After a quick review of the Vegas Video Network One-Year Anniversary Party (and a tip on the Roku trivia question. . .which is still on-going), we sidestep food poisoning, wonder what’s happening to the Tropicana, go behind-the-scenes at G2E, and talk about some guy named Justin (who is on some list). Then, we introduce our new segment featuring Access Vegas‘ Ted Newkirk, “Ted’s Tourist Tips” and “Insider Insights”. Show notes:
- Visit LASIK of Nevada (50% Off Premium LASIK + $200 more if you mention VVN)
- LiLV Stuff
- NEW TOLL-FREE Listener Line: 866.966.4599
- Sign up for Email Alerts (form found on right side of our website)
- Get your questions answered: OnAirQ@LivingInLV.com
- Visit our FACEBOOK Page: Facebook.com/VegasVideoNetwork
- 83 / LiLV Pool (6x)
- VVN One-Year Anniversary Party recap
- Tropicana president resigns
- G2E behind-the-scenes from the IGT booth
- Food poisoning at PF Changs?
- Justin Timberlake and Friends and the “list” JT is on
- Nevada gaming down, thanks to the Chinese
- Listener Email: Follow up on religion and schools
- Ted’s Tourist Tips and Insider’s Insight
October 7, 2011
Alright! Time for Friday Figures! All information from the GLVAR MLS system. Here’s the truth about Vegas Real Estate, information you and your REALTOR need to know before touring, making an offer, or preparing a listing this weekend. Normally, I talk about the figures live on Getting REAL (Estate) in Vegas on the Vegas Video Network every Friday at 2:00 PM. Today there will regrettably be no show, so join us next week!
Summary: Available units is down again, this time to 13433. That’s a change from 14202 on September 2. The number of short sales under contract is continuing to trend downwards. Even more good news, the list price on available bank owned property is continuing to trend upwards! The first and last weeks of the month are always a busy time for closing transactions, and this week is no exception. The median sales and listing prices of sold properties is still moving in a narrow range from about $105,000-$110,000 — right now near the top of that range — but there was a spike in the number of sold short sales this week. Anything that gets short sales out of the system is a Good Thing in my book.
The News: I’m not the only person to notice inaccurate listings on most of the real estate websites! A study by Trulia says that 1 of every 10 online listings outside the MLS has major errors either in price, availability, or both! Yet another reason to give your criteria to a really good buyers agent and stop wasting hours on search websites.
The Census Bureau says that home ownership is at the lowest levels since the Great Depression — surely a factor influencing prices. It wasn’t that long ago that we were talking about record high levels of home ownership.
Bank of America is making a major shift away from buying mortgages from other banks, a move that will effect the entire mortgage market. But you wouldn’t know that to see mortgage rates, which are now under 4%. Speaking of companies that buy mortgages, Fannie Mae is under fire for not only filing falsified foreclosure filings, but ignored all evidence that they were doing so. Sorting through this mess is of course one factor in the deepening foreclosure backlog. But the good news is that seriously delinquent mortgages are at a 3 year low.
