Las Vegas Podcast - Living in Las Vegas » Blog Post

The Vegas Video Network is Hiring

ScottW — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 17:04:02 +0000

The Vegas Video Network, the first and only LIVE online broadcast network in Las Vegas, is ready to do some more growing. We develop and produce completely original daily and weekly live and on-demand programming that has a world-wide reach. To date, our weekly average of live and on-demand downloads calculates to over two million (2,000,000) a year.

We have found ourselves in the enviable position of needing more help in our eleven-camera capable, all high definition, live streaming video studio. As a result, we’ve created an opening for a part-time, PAID, studio apprentice.

This is not a "go-get-me-some-coffee" type of gig.

We’re looking for a unique individual who wants to roll up their sleeves, work hard, and get deep into the inner workings of what is arguably the next step in broadcasting.

If you’ve ever wanted to get in on the ground floor of this exciting new way of reaching a world-wide audience, this may be the opportunity you’ve been looking for.

Sounds interesting? Cool. You’d be a great candidate if you are personable, enthusiastic, and willing to work crazy hours. You should be VERY comfortable around technology — you’ll be helping with. . .

pre-production (cameras, lighting, sets, graphics, guest prepping),
production (video, audio, cameras, live chat), and
post-production (audio, video, graphics, software, computers, social media, online)

Naturally, you are a fast learner with an affinity for all things techy, so regardless of the work you’ll be asked to do, you’ll catch on quickly and get the job done. You should have a creative eye and mind, and should write well. As time goes on, you’ll be capable of doing everything from writing show notes to being a technical director for any of the VVN shows.

This position will require 16 to 20 hours a week of your time. There will be a mix of morning, afternoon and evening hours. And it may turn into a full-time position.

If you’re our (wo)man, let us know. Send an email to jobs@vegasvideonetwork.com. Include your resume, tell us a bit about your technical capabilities/experience, and let us know why you’d like to work in a dark studio that is usually occupied by two crazy individuals. If you’ve done any previous video work, we’d love to see that as well.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Friday Figures: Las Vegas Real Estate Report for 1/27/2012

BridgetM — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 17:02:33 +0000

Welcome to Friday Figures! All information from the GLVAR MLS system. It’s what you and your REALTOR need before touring, making an offer, or preparing a listing in the Las Vegas Valley this weekend. Watch me talk about the figures live on Getting REAL (Estate) in Vegas on the Vegas Video Network live today and every Friday at 2:00 PM! Today we’ll talk about making your home feel bigger, an unusual farm, and rentals.

Summary: We have 10715 available properties, yet another drop. We haven’t seen this low a number of available units since June of 2010 and the end of the Home Buyers Tax Credit. The number of bank owned properties is abnormally low as lenders try to figure out how to comply with relatively new state laws and rulings by state judges. Expect more foreclosures by summer. More short sale and traditional sellers should start to appear with the flowers of Spring. While the number of available units is down, properties under contract are up — a healthy sign by most measures. We have a major tick up in both the number of leases waiting to be signed and the new leases signed. Rentals continue to move fast in this town, so don’t delay if you need to lease!

The News: The Feds are still trying to push through a big foreclosure fraud settlement that involves forgetting about investigating — let along prosecuting — the illegal actions of banks. However, they are bending under pressure from the public and at least two state Attorneys General to at least attempt to look into the matter. It turns out that “let the guys who wrecked the economy off the hook” is a bad strategy in an election year. In local foreclosure fraud news, yet another Nevada court has ruled that lenders must actually prove they have the right to foreclose before doing so.

December saw a drop in the number of homes under contract to be purchased nationwide. But don’t panic! That’s down from a 19 month high! Available inventory is down nationwide, too. It seems logical that if there are fewer homes available, fewer purchase contracts will result.

Two interesting problems to look out for. First, some economists think that all-cash real estate purchases are driving down home prices. Since roughly a third of our deals in Vegas are cash, this should be alarming. However, we have a large inventory of homes that are effectively un-mortgageable — those under $50,000 and those in very poor repair — so I do think this theory is overstated at least on the local level. It would be easy to say “See?? Look at all these homes selling for less than $50,000!” without pointing out that almost nobody locally will write a mortgage for that little. The other interesting thing is a study on what would happen if the minimum down payment on a mortgage went up sharply. It turns out that a minimum of as little as 10% would be a problem for as much as 40% of homebuyers. More alarming is that even more minority homebuyers would theoretically be out of luck. This study, of course, assumes that just because somebody made a lower down payment, the borrower couldn’t afford a bigger one. I find this assumption unrealistic.

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Friday Figures: Las Vegas Real Estate Report for 1/20/2012

BridgetM — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 17:01:50 +0000

It’s time for Friday Figures! All information from the GLVAR MLS system. This is real data you and your REALTOR need before touring, making an offer, or preparing a listing in the Las Vegas Valley this weekend. Normally you can watch me talk about the figures live on Getting REAL (Estate) in Vegas on the Vegas Video Network live every Friday at 2:00 PM, but today we are off. See you next week!

Summary: We have 10897 available properties, compared to 16231 a year ago. For those of you playing at home, that means one of my 2012 real estate predictions is very probably busted. Don’t let anybody tell you this is a buyers market! One truly bright spot is that year over year, median price on available single family homes is ever so slightly UP! That’s right, I said UP year over year. There has also been a remarkable year over year decline in the number of available condos priced under $100,000. While the number of available properties is down, the number under contract is up; this is good because it means that we aren’t having a lot of expiring listings. We had a jump in the number of short sales under contract both from last week and year over year, supporting my prediction that it’s the Year of the Short Sale.

The News: NPR had an interesting item on property taxes this week, and why they aren’t necessarily going down. You might also enjoy this CNN item on unusual homes for sale. One interesting local item is on dropping prices for high-rise condos.

Home sales were up in December. That’s 3 months in a row, and an 11 month high! That also brings us down to a 6.2 month supply.

The latest version of the foreclosure fraud settlement would include writing down the mortgage balances of one million homeowners by roughly $20,000 (which won’t change anything in Las Vegas). However, there is some concern that banks will not actually lose this money, but pass the loss on to the investors who bought mortgage backed securities. The problem with this is that many of those securities are held by pension funds. Meanwhile, MERS is trying to settle a lawsuit rather than be dragged into a class action suit.

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Friday Figures: Las Vegas Real Estate Report for 1/13/2012

BridgetM — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 00:57:14 +0000

Thanks for stopping by to read Friday Figures! All information from the GLVAR MLS system. Here’s what you and your REALTOR need before touring, making an offer, or preparing a listing in the Las Vegas Valley this weekend. Watch me talk about the figures live on Getting REAL (Estate) in Vegas on the Vegas Video Network live today and every Friday at 2:00 PM. Today I’ll tell you why this is “the Year of the Short Sale”!

Summary: The number of available properties is down just a little to 11048. Apparently non-institutional sellers are waiting until spring to list — a questionable tactic in today’s market. Interestingly enough, the number of properties listed for more than $700,000 seems to be trending up. The number of properties under contract is up slightly, a good sign for future closings. Expect light closings next week, as title companies and government offices will be closed Monday.

The News: We have what might be good news on the foreclosure front: fewer of them! In fact, foreclosures are down to 2007 levels. But is this a sign of things to come, or just a glitch caused by stronger state laws, more scrutiny, and not wanting to admit that banks are losing money on non-performing mortgages? If so, we can expect foreclosures to pick up again very soon now. Meanwhile, the Obama Administration still wants to ram through a foreclosure fraud settlement that would slap banks on the wrist and prevent investigation and punishment for crimes committed by the banks.

Mortgage rates are down again this week, to a new record of 3.89%. I am deadly serious when I say I don’t expect rates to be this low a year from now; if you are on the fence, get thee to a mortgage officer.

While the CoreLogic House Price Index suggests that prices were down in November, rents are being pushed up nationally by high demand.

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Friday Figures: Las Vegas Real Estate Report for 1/6/2012

BridgetM — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 20:44:38 +0000

It’s the first Friday Figures of 2012! All information from the GLVAR MLS system. Here’s the no-spin data you and your REALTOR need before touring, making an offer, or preparing a listing in the Las Vegas Valley this weekend. Watch me talk about the figures live on Getting REAL (Estate) in Vegas on the Vegas Video Network live today and every Friday at 2:00 PM. Today we talk about new FHA limits and my 2012 Las Vegas real estate predictions!

Summary: Surprisingly we had another drop in the number of available units to 11124, compared to 12120 last month. The reduced inventory has pushed the price of both bank owned and traditional sales up. The median price of foreclosed homes is up 9% from the bottom we put in last summer! Properties under contract are also declining as properties close. The price of properties closing is stable, but I expect it to edge up a percentage or two over the coming 90 days as available properties go through the pipeline.

The News: The Feds are floating another proposal to start renting out some of the foreclosed homes owned by agencies of the government. This is partly to keep rents up nationally, and avoid having to rejigger how inflation is measured. Ironically, this may drive the price of foreclosures down, because the “nicest” ones are more likely to be rented out than the gutted disasters at the bottom of the price range (can we hope for a bulldozer?).

The number of visitors to Vegas is back to its pre-recession levels, despite the fact that convention business is still down. Visitors returning should remember that the Hilton is no longer a Hilton.

And the foreclosure fraud trial of a Florida lawyer suggests that the shadow inventory problem may be much, much bigger than anybody thinks. But then again, the man is on trial for lying.

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Friday Figures: Las Vegas Real Estate Report for 12/30/2011

BridgetM — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 17:14:10 +0000

It’s the last Friday Figures of 2011! All information from the GLVAR MLS system. This is what you and your REALTOR need to know before touring, making an offer, or preparing a listing in the Las Vegas Valley this weekend. Normally I would talk about the figures live on Getting REAL (Estate) in Vegas on the Vegas Video Network live every Friday at 2:00 PM, but the show is taking a break for the holidays. We will be back on the air Friday, January 6, 2012 with my personal real estate predictions for 2012!

Summary: We’re down to 11486 available properties ahead of year-end. Hopefully, next week will be the big week for new listings that I’ve been looking for. The number of foreclosed homes on the market is continuing to slide (and probably will until banks figure out how best to tackle new laws in Nevada), but the good news is that the median price on those properties is up 8% from the bottom we had earlier this year. Predictably, the number of units under contract is down: banks and other institutions wanted both foreclosures and short sales off the books before the end of the year. The number of sales closed this week is remarkable when you consider that the County Recorder’s Office was closed Monday to observe Christmas.

The News: There’s still one more day of recorded documents to go through, but it looks like 38% of residential real estate purchases in 2011 were made with cash. Cash has been king here in our local market for some time, and will continue as long as we have un-mortgageable property for sale.

The Case-Shiller numbers came out this week, and generally speaking they weren’t good news. Housing prices were down in October. Keep in mind, it’s the end of December.

The foreclosure fraud settlement hasn’t materialized yet, and I am hopeful that there will be criminal investigations and prison sentences before any settlement can be made. In the meantime, Karl Denniger has some ideas about what the law should be (and frankly I’m shocked that this isn’t already law). Right now in Nevada, there is a case before our state Supreme Court asking just how much documentation must exist to bring a foreclosure: is some computer record from another state good enough? Speaking of foreclosure, here’s an interesting item on how long it sometimes takes to foreclose!

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Friday Figures: Las Vegas Real Estate Report for 12/16/2011

BridgetM — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 21:21:42 +0000

Almost done with Christmas shopping? I hope so, because it’s time for Friday Figures! All information from the GLVAR MLS system. Here’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. Be sure to tune in and see me talk about the figures live on Getting REAL (Estate) in Vegas on the Vegas Video Network live today and every Friday at 2:00 PM. Today we talk about the NAR’s upcoming home sales revisions and Occupy Our Homes.

Summary: According to our MLS system, we’ve broken under 12,000 listings! There are only 11851 available properties. A year ago we had 16417. Remember that this low level might be partly seasonal, as non-institutional sellers (”normal people”) don’t really want their holidays interrupted by showings! Banks also want to avoid the bad publicity of foreclosing and evicting someone right before the holidays (how Grinch-like!), so the number of bank owned properties may rise after the first. One interesting thing is that list prices are very close to where they were last year — a great sign considering how far they’ve fallen. There are also signs that short sales are being processed more quickly, even if banks aren’t exactly following Nevada’s 90 day rule.

The News: There are some signs that we are recovering from the foreclosure mess nationwide, but that doesn’t mean all will be sunshine and roses. Meanwhile, it looks like a foreclosure fraud settlement that lets banks get away with fraud is likely to be made by Christmas. At least one Senator thinks that’s a bad idea.

Mortgage rates have hit yet another all time low, now at 3.94%. That’s just crazy.

The NAR will be revising it’s existing home sales figures for the last 5 years. I’ll be talking about how they managed to overcount by roughly 13% on today’s show.

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Friday Figures: Las Vegas Real Estate Report for 12/9/2011

BridgetM — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 20:10:52 +0000

I’m back and ready to go! Welcome to 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. Be sure to tune in and see me talk about the figures live on Getting REAL (Estate) in Vegas on the Vegas Video Network live today and every Friday at 2:00 PM. Today we talk about Vegas’s new foreclosure ordinance, stupid Realtor tricks that could prevent people from buying your home, and a very special What Were They Thinking.

Summary: We now only have 12120 available properties in our MLS. Expect more classic and short sale listings after the first of the year, as people finish the holidays and face reality about the need to sell their homes. Surprisingly, the number of properties under contract is also down — a sign that these listings are closing rather than falling out of contract and becoming available again.

The News: California and Nevada are continuing to fight for a proper investigation of foreclosure fraud — despite the mysterious death of at least one witness — putting a nationwide foreclosure fraud settlement at risk (good, put a stake through the chest of that settlement, because it sucks!).

There’s been a lot of speculation this week about whether the nationwide market has bottomed or not. The opinions? Probably, but we aren’t out of the woods yet and it may well take half a decade to actually recover.

This week, the Las Vegas City Council approved a strict foreclosure ordinance. The purpose is to force banks to take care of foreclosed properties and not let them fall into disrepair. I will be talking about this proposal on the show today, so don’t forget to tune in.

And finally, I am an agent at a Prudential Real Estate and Relocation Services branch. Earlier this week, PRERS was sold by Prudential Financial Services to Brookfield Residential Services. Brookfield will continue to license the Prudential name. This should not effect my business in any meaningful way.

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Black Friday Figures: Las Vegas Real Estate Report for 11/25/2011

BridgetM — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 06:30:42 +0000

Whew! It’s nuts out there. Thanks for taking time away from the stores to check out the 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. Normally I talk about the figures live on Getting REAL (Estate) in Vegas on the Vegas Video Network every Friday at 2:00 PM, but we will be taking this week and next week off.

Summary: Available units continues to drop, now at 12582. Expect a spike after the first of the year, since many sellers don’t want to have their holidays disrupted by potential buyers. It’s very encouraging that availables are down since the number of available foreclosures and classic listings are both up! Obviously, this means we have fewer short sales this week. There are also fewer short sales under contract. Closings were very strong, considering the short work week.

The News: One of the big news items you won’t hear too much about is that PMI has filed for bankruptcy. PMI is the largest provider of private mortgage insurance — the stuff that is supposed to pay the bank if a a borrower defaults and the lender has to foreclose. Speaking of foreclosures, it looks like there might be a 49 state deal that excludes California. That is, unless New York, Delaware, and Nevada decide they have enough evidence to really tackle the fraud that banks did.

If you love charts and figures, go check out this great post over at The Mess That Greenspan Made!

Mortgage rates are down yet again, this time to an absolutely amazing 3.98%. I will be shocked if rates are this low a year from now. Maybe that’s why existing home sales are up.

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Friday Figures: Las Vegas Real Estate Report for 11/18/2011

BridgetM — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 04:32:45 +0000

It’s time for Friday Figures! All information from the GLVAR MLS system. Here’s the real deal, information 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! Be sure to join us!

Summary: The number of available properties dropped again, this time to 12645. That’s a change from 16474 last year. There were major declines in the number of distressed properties for sale over the last year, and a more modest change in the number of non-distressed listings. While there’s not much seasonality for foreclosures, “smart money” short sellers and traditional sellers have their homes on the market now, through the holidays. They know that only serious buyers are out before year end! There is a small divergence in median prices of available vs. contingent/pending single family homes, probably due to bargain hunters.

The News: You read that item I posted earlier about 2 people being indicted on 606 counts of mortgage fraud right here in Nevada, right? I can’t believe that’s not all over the Review-Journal’s online edition!

The HARP changes announced a few weeks ago now have guidelines to go with them. Underwater and need to refinance? This might help you. Speaking of refinancing, Freddie Mac has made the startling discovery that most people who are refinancing — at record low interest rates, I might add — are choosing fixed rate mortgages! I guess they are surprised that people are using common sense.

Remember that just 6 weeks ago, new lower FHA limits came out? Now Congress has passed a bill allowing those limits to be raised again. There’s no word yet on whether there will really be any change here in Clark County. I stand by what I said on air: we have a lot of houses available for less than $287,500, and if you can really afford a $300,000 home you can surely afford to put down more than 3.5%.

And just one more local item: 10 of the strangest shops in Vegas. Ready for Christmas shopping season yet?

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Friday Figures: Las Vegas Property Report for 11/4/2011

BridgetM — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 17:14:04 +0000

Thanks for reading Friday Figures! All information from the GLVAR MLS system. Here’s the actual no-spin data 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 by viewer request we’ll be talking about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Be sure to join us!

Summary: The number of available units did drop again to 13017, changed from 13433 a month ago. I’m pleased that the number of properties available for less than $100,000 is continuing to drop. The number of properties under contract has dropped under 13,000. Normally I would say this is a good sign, but the number of contingent and pending short sales is actually up slightly from last month. Part of this is simply that we have 7% fewer available short sales than we had at the beginning of October.

The News: Freddie Mac sold over 25,000 foreclosed properties last quarter, but they foreclosed on over 24,000 new ones. Experts say it will take poor Freddie a decade to work through the inventory at the current rate.

Earlier this week I told you about the possibility of getting an independent review of your foreclosure if you were foreclosed on in 2009 or 2010. It turns out I’m not the only one who is a bit critical of the proposal. I’m also not the only person who is very critical about the rumors concerning what’s in the latest version of the foreclosure fraud settlement: the banks get a slap on the wrist and we all pay the price. Let your Congressmen know what you think: Senate, House. Just a month ago, we were talking about how the settlement might be dead.

Mortgage rates did fall again this week to a nice even 4.00% average. I’m sure that has something to do with why housing shows “more evidence of a bottom” — and that’s from someone who has been pretty bearish on housing over the years!

And one bit of local real estate news. Apartment complexes are experiencing high occupancy rates, but average rent is down this quarter to $752 per month. Analysts expect that continued high occupancy will result in higher rents. However, it’s worth remembering that thanks to investors getting incredible deals, renters now have much greater choice in rental housing.

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Friday Figures: Las Vegas Property Report for 10/28/2011

BridgetM — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 19:05:21 +0000

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.

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Friday Figures: Las Vegas Property Report for 10/21/2011

BridgetM — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 21:47:49 +0000

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.

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Friday Figures: Las Vegas Real Estate Report for 10/14/2011

BridgetM — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 06:39:07 +0000

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.

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Friday Figures: Las Vegas Real Estate Report for 10/7/2011

BridgetM — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 17:19:57 +0000

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.

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Friday Figures: Las Vegas Real Estate Report for 9/30/2011

BridgetM — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 20:15:09 +0000

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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Friday Figures: Las Vegas Real Estate Report for 9/23/2011

BridgetM — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 20:19:15 +0000

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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Friday Figures: Las Vegas Real Estate Report for 9/16/2011

BridgetM — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 14:43:10 +0000

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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Friday Figures: Las Vegas Real Estate Report for 9/9/2011

BridgetM — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 20:39:19 +0000

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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Friday Figures: Las Vegas Real Estate Report for 9/2/2011

BridgetM — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 20:35:13 +0000

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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Friday Figures: Las Vegas Real Estate Report for 8/26/2011

BridgetM — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 17:00:34 +0000

Once more it’s time for 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 talk about Chinese drywall and small multifamily properties.

Summary: The number of available units once more has stayed near unchanged, this week at 14065. However, the remarkable thing is that the median price of both single family homes and condos/townhomes is up! Why? Because the median price on foreclosures is up 5% from 6 weeks ago. Just like available units, contingent and pending units are noodling around their narrow range. We still have strong numbers on sold properties, which means that new inventory is coming in the market to replace closed inventory. Some of that sold inventory is clearly being put to work in the rental market, with no detrimental effect on rents — good news for our future recovery!

The News: Let’s start off with the federal government attempting to cover up the criminal actions of banks through the foreclosure fraud settlement. Foreclosure rates are still high, with 1 in every 611 homes receiving a foreclosure filing of some sort in the 2nd quarter of this year, a slight rise. One of the more alarming facts is that the number of FHA delinquencies has skyrocketed — so REALTORS better have their blue pens ready to fill out lots of HUD paperwork in 2012. However, all that resulting distressed inventory is weighing hard on any possibly housing recovery.

No surprise, mortgage rates are up to a whopping 4.22% on average. I’ll start to worry when they get over about 5.5%. Interest rates are of no matter to cash investors, and finally somebody at CNBC agrees with me that we won’t have a full recovery without a healthy number of real estate investors who are renting property to all those people displaced by foreclosure and short sale.

Another thing that may be key to a long term recovery is principal reduction. While bankers and investors hate the idea, it would reduce the number of short sales and foreclosures, and put homeowners in a position to use the the equity in their homes to start small businesses (which will really create jobs).

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Living in Las Vegas Podcast + Vegas Video Network Meetup

ScottW — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 17:25:25 +0000

In what began as an idea in the LiLV Live Chat Room has turned into our next Living in Las Vegas Podcast / Vegas Video Network Viewer Meetup!!!

This year’s Meetup takes place at one of our favorite bars in Las Vegas — RHUMBAR at The Mirage. The folks at RHUMBAR have set aside an area just for our gathering!

As an added bonus, by RSVP’ing (see below for instructions), your first drink is on us!!

****IMPORTANT****
Anybody can stop by. To get on the list for your **free drink**, please RSVP Facebook AND send an email with a list of attendees (each of whom should have their own email address) to meetup@vegasvideonetwork.com.

These meetups are a BLAST. We’ve been having them since 2006 and they are always a great time to have a drink, meet old friends, and make new friends.

We will be located in the North-East corner of the outside lounge. There should be a large Vegas Video Network banner near us. And while the time of the event says 4-7PM on the Facebook page, you can better believe many of us will be there long after 7PM!

See you there!!!

Friday Figures: Las Vegas Real Estate Report for 8/19/2011

BridgetM — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 01:04:15 +0000

Hooray for Friday and the 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 1 PM. Today we talk about the future of mortgages and give you some valuable tax information.

Summary: The number of available properties was unchanged at 14129, a change from 14057 a year ago. While it’s still true that prices of available homes are lower than last year, the rate at which prices dropped is falling. Also, we have a second week in a row of median prices on foreclosures actually rising!

The News: Bank of America is having another bad week: announcing 3500 employees laid off; they’re also being forced to consider a foreclosure fraud agreement that still allows at least one state investigation (assuming a settlement happens at all, in which case banks may face 50 criminal investigations). Of course, they aren’t the only player in the mortgage fraud mess that’s under fire. S&P — yes, the same S&P that downgraded the United States Government — is now being investigated by the Feds for giving overly optimistic ratings to Mortgage Backed Securities (bonds based on the mortgages of you and your neighbors). Only the timing seems politically motivated; the investigation should have taken place 3 years ago. Fannie Mae is also under fire for allegedly forcing foreclosures over modifications and short sales.

I sincerely hope nobody is surprised to learn that 95% of refinancing homeowners — and there’s a lot of them — are choosing fixed rate mortgages. After all, mortgage rates haven’t been this low in over 50 years! What are the odds that rates will be lower than this in 5 years, when a typical ARM would reset? You’ve got better of winning a few hands of baccarat against James Bond. Take the sure thing: 4.15% for 30 years! Those refinancing homeowners are also choosing shorter terms when they can.

Home sales were down nationally in July, with just over 9 months supply — a far cry from what’s happening in Vegas. Locally, we’re looking at a year where closings rival the boom. Apparently what happens here does stay here! Some experts expect our prices to bottom out in late 2012. In my opinion, that depends what happens with the availability of jobs and mortgages. More on that on today’s show!

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Friday Figures: Las Vegas Real Estate Report for 8/12/2011

BridgetM — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 18:39:44 +0000

It’s Friday again, and that means it’s time for the Friday Figures! All information from the GLVAR MLS system. Be sure you look at this 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 1 PM. Today we talk about interest rates, and introduce a great new segment called “What Were They Thinking?”

Summary: The number of available properties was unchanged at 14202. The median price on foreclosed properties appears to be recovering, which is very good news for the market as a whole. The number of rentals has been on the rise, but that hasn’t made any dent in rental rates.

The News: Mortgage rates are at record lows — for reasons I will explain on the show today. If you can pull off a 15 year mortgage, you can have a rate as low as 3.25%. As a result, mortgage applications are up over 20%.

While home prices are down 12.7% nationwide from last year, other people are starting to notice that median prices are changing within a narrow range (alert the media, Lawrence Yun agrees with me!). Remember that a year ago, we were still sorting out the end of the Home Buyer Tax Credit. Home inventory is also down, by 13.3%.

Foreclosures are down as well, for the 10th month in a row! However, Fannie, Freddie, and HUD still own a quarter million foreclosures between them, and a lot of strange ideas are being floated to get rid of them. Fannie Mae is selling them at a record pace, partly thanks to HomePath financing, but since they just got saddled with a bunch of mortgages from Bank of America, expect plenty more FNMA foreclosures. I hope nobody is surprised that banks are dragging their feet when it comes to foreclosing on more expensive homes.

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Friday Figures: Las Vegas Real Estate Report for 8/5/2011

BridgetM — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 21:31:29 +0000

Who’s ready for the Friday Figures? All information from the GLVAR MLS system. Be sure you look at this 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 1 PM. Today we’ll be talking about the Truth About Open Houses and look at whether we really have a “Buyer’s Market.”

Summary: The number of available properties dropped slightly to 14202, a change from 14303 at the beginning of July. Time on market for available units continues to drop! Combined with the fairly static number of available units, it is clear that there are a lot of purchase offers being written. This is the third month in a row that we have had a substantial increase in the number of foreclosures for sale. Another source of concern is that the number of sub-$50k single family homes is on the rise; we are likely to have more than 500 houses in that price range in a matter of weeks. Condos in that price range are declining on a wave of cash buyers. The number of properties under contract is also stable. The surge of closed sales in the last two weeks is further evidence that there is lots of buyer activity all along the property pipeline. The number of available rentals is up as well, which tends to indicate that our large number of closed properties includes quite a bit of investor activity. Smart money is getting into our market now.

The News: Remember last week I mentioned that B of A was demolishing some foreclosures rather than selling them? This week there were a couple of interesting articles on that. One more follow up from last week is this item on “fixer upper” properties. Here’s an interesting article on The Missing Move-Up Buyer that conveniently forgets to mention the reason — many current owners don’t have any equity and would have to short sell to move at all. Despite the fact that there are many first time buyers out there, the home ownership rate hasn’t been this low since 1965, when the first Baby Boomers were just out of high school!

Foreclosures fell in the first half of the year, but foreclosure starts did rise in June. It will be a few weeks before we have July numbers. Meanwhile, New York’s Attorney General is getting serious about enforcing foreclosure law. Let’s hope that’s the start of a nationwide trend (remember, homeowners vote and banks don’t). Don’t make the mistake of thinking that the foreclosure crisis is only a residential real estate problem; commercial mortgage late payments are at a record high.

Mortgage rates have fallen to a multi-decade low, but experts don’t expect that to spur buying because unemployment is still high.

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Friday Figures: Las Vegas Real Estate Report for 7/29/2011

BridgetM — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 18:39:55 +0000

Welcome to Friday Figures! All information from the GLVAR MLS system. Read this 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 1 PM. This week we have Sales Manager and Business Coach Carlos Caipa from Prudential Americana Group, REALTORS!

Summary: The number of available properties dropped slightly to 14382, well within our current range. However, time on market continues to drop — this change will be notable when we look at the month-over-month numbers next week. While the number of single family homes available is rock solid, there was a small drop in the number of condos for several weeks in a row; considering the additional difficulties in purchasing and financing a condominium, that’s a good sign. There is a possibility of a surge of a few hundred additional properties coming onto the market next week. We did have a drop in the number of distressed properties, and a rise in the median price of foreclosed homes. I won’t speculate on what (if anything) this means for the future until next week’s figures. The number of contingent and pending listings dropped by 7 — combined with the fact that over 900 properties closed this week (not a bad end-of-month surge), that means we have had several hundred new contracts signed this week. Rental activity is up in general, which I am going to accept as a good thing.

The News: Home prices are on the rise nationally, but this may just be a seasonal change. The number of sales contracts is up, but the number of cancellations is high.

MERS is trying to distance itself from the mortgage fraud debacle, but the fact remains that MERS exists for the purpose of circumventing your local county recorder’s office — cheating your county out of fees it uses to provide services in your community. Interestingly enough, foreclosure activity is down in most areas (coincidence, or effect?). In the meantime, UBS is being sued over bad mortgage based securities, Wells Fargo is being investigated for fair housing violations regarding mortgages, and Bank of America has so many bad mortgages, it is bulldozing some foreclosures and donating the land to local groups. This mess is not over yet.

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Friday Figures: Las Vegas Real Estate Report for 7/22/2011

BridgetM — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 15:27:05 +0000

Thanks for dropping by to read Friday Figures! All information from the GLVAR MLS system. Make sure you take a look 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 1 PM. This week we have what is probably the close of our “median price field trip” series. What do you want next? Let us know at GettingReal@VegasVideoNetwork.com! Today I’ll also be talking about everybody’s favorite thing. What’s that? Make your best guess and tune in to find out. Next week we have a special guest, so get your questions ready for Sales Manager and Business Coach Carlos Caipa!

Summary: There was almost no change in the number of available units, now at 14407. However, time on market is dropping fairly remarkably. This means it was easy to predict that the number of properties under contract is up. We’re already starting to see a little surge of closing activity into the end of the month — will next week be another incredible time like the end of June? You’ll have to come back next week to find out!

The News: Nationwide, home sales were flat to down slightly as the number of first time buyers fell, leaving a 9.5 month supply. Locally, sales jumped — which my readers already knew — but prices did drop.

Remember that the foreclosure fraud crisis is not over. Robosigning is still happening, documents are still being lost, MERS is still defrauding your local government of transfer fees, banks are still being forced to spend thousands and millions and billions of dollars in fines and settlements, and the State Attorneys General have still not filed the criminal charges they are entitled to prosecute.

In local news, unemployment is officially at 13.8% (remember, this is the artificially low “U3″ number that doesn’t include the long term unemployed) but our largest economic sector — tourism! — is up.

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Friday Figures: Las Vegas Real Estate Report for 7/15/2011

BridgetM — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 19:53:34 +0000

It’s another hot July day in Vegas! Cool down with some Friday Figures! All information from the GLVAR MLS system. Make no mistake: it’s what you and your REALTOR need to 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 1 PM. Today I’ll be letting you know about some new laws that will have an impact on buyers, sellers, and property owners in Nevada, along with an important update about our Foreclosure Mediation program.

Summary: We have 14467 available properties today, compared with 12521 a year ago. Remember that this time last year, we were just returning to a more normal inventory level after the expiration of the home buyer tax credit; I was predicting a target number of availables at around 15000 (we overshot then corrected to current levels). This week we did have a substantial drop in the median days on market. The number of contingent and pending listings is also stable, but it’s notable that the number of short sales in that total is down sharply from last year — a sign that we are moving through inventory (more on why that will go faster this afternoon!). Sold properties returned to a more normal number this week. Expect another surge near the end of the month, but not as big as last month! Unfortunately, prices of sold properties appears to be sliding again.

The News: Let me start off with some great news. Maybe you already knew that I moved to Prudential Americana Group, REALTORS, on Sahara — centrally located to serve the whole valley better. Thanks to their terrific IT department, I have another great site to share with you at YourVegasPlace.com. It features one of the best automated searches I’ve ever seen. Don’t forget to register as a VIP to get updates and newsletters from me, and set up a search for your dream home, your investment home, or just keep track of what’s going on in your neighborhood. It’s free and easy. Don’t worry, I’ll still be serving up Friday Figures and other real estate news here, and doing great shows every Friday afternoon on the Vegas Video Network!

Alright, on to everybody’s least favorite topic, foreclosure. A new study confirms what most of us have seen: the more somebody owes, the less likely they are to get a Notice of Default. When the bank stands to lose more than a quarter million dollars, they are less motivated to start the process. In other words, they will pretend everything is fine to make the shareholders happy (why the SEC isn’t investigating this, I couldn’t say). While this isn’t a huge problem locally, be aware that in some parts of the country, foreclosed homes may have a mold and mildew problem simply because they are not lived in. Another problem of empty properties is the possibility of squatters. Please, keep your brain working when touring available properties.

A new study shows that home ownership may still fall a little in the United States — unless it doesn’t. Meanwhile, mortgage rates are down again, now at 4.51% on average.

And remember: Vegas is still one of the 10 best cities to buy a rental property according to CNN. Tourist volume continues to rise, which means that resorts, casinos, and restaurants will continue to hire — and that in turn means that jobs will be created in the community. All those people need to live someplace.

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Friday Figures: Las Vegas Real Estate Report for 7/8/2011

BridgetM — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 20:17:05 +0000

Welcome to Friday Figures! All information from the GLVAR MLS system. Here’s what you and your REALTOR need to 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 1 PM. Today we’re touring a median priced home near Henderson, and talking about how to work with a Realtor in another town.

Summary: This morning we have 14315 available listings, not a huge change from last week and well in the current range. Not surprisingly, prices are stable for the moment too. It’s no surprise that after last week’s incredible number of sold properties, we had a light number of closes this week. Rentals are up, possibly as some last week’s sold units are investment properties.

The News: So what if we just finished Independence Day fireworks? Here in Vegas, we’re busy planning New Years Eve!

There’s a lot of talk about some mystery mortgage modifications — for people who didn’t ask for them and are up to date on their payments. These homeowners had “option ARM” loans, also known as “pick a payment.” These are the same kind of loans that Wells Fargo was forced to modify last year. My theory is that these lenders are trying to avoid the scrutiny of state Attorneys General. I also strongly suspect that if HUD were to go digging in this mess, they would find fair housing violations. Speaking of mortgage modifications, if you are confused by all the federal programs and how they might help you, check this out.

Bank of America has had a really bad week. They are expecting to take $13,000,000,000 in charges to settle with holders of mortgage backed securities (this compares to $125,000,000 that Wells Fargo has agreed to pay on similar claims). They have to go to court on a lawsuit from homeowners that say B of A wasn’t willing to follow HAMP rules. Their stock price dropped 3% on news that another settlement fell through. And that doesn’t account for their potential liability under the foreclosure fraud settlement, which is now estimated at $60,000,000,000.

Mortgage rates are up this week, but still at a historically low 4.5%. New price limits for “conforming loans” are coming October 1, so buyers interested in pricier homes would be well advised to get that transaction underway now. Remember last week we were looking at experts saying it would be 2 years before a housing recovery? Now the HUD secretary says this is the time to buy, and prices will rise as soon as the 3rd quarter of this year (that would be now) because foreclosures are declining. Frequent readers know how nervous that kind of talk makes me. Nevertheless, 7 out of 10 renters say that buying a home is a “top priority.”

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Friday Figures: Las Vegas Real Estate Report for 6/24/2011

BridgetM — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 16:28:42 +0000

Welcome to Friday Figures! All information from the GLVAR MLS system. Touring, making an offer, or preparing a listing this weekend? Read this first! You can see me tell you about the figures live on Getting REAL (Estate) in Vegas on the Vegas Video Network today at 1 PM. This week, I’ve got a sneak peak inside an age restricted community (shhh! I’m under 55!) and we open a “mystery box” called “title insurance.”

Summary: The number of available properties dropped slightly to 14410. I have seen some anecdotal evidence that while properties are moving fast in very desirable areas, there is weakness in other spots — particularly larger homes. Be prepared for a drop in the days on market numbers, as the way “Combined Days On Market” is calculated is changing to reflect foreclosure and investment activity. The number of properties under contract is also stable, but still bloated by literally thousands of short sales yet to be approved. The number of properties closing is seasonally high, as many families want to move while school is out for summer — finally a sign of normalcy in this crazy market. The drop in median price of sold units partly reflects sluggish sales of larger homes, and always reflects “bargain hunters.”

The News: Let’s start with some follow-up. I said this last week, but even nationwide “Cash is King” for buying real estate. A few months ago, I talked about HUD homes being the next big thing, and it turns out that May was a record month for sale of those homes. Is it really “A great time to buy a house?” I get asked all the time, and I’m not the only one who thinks it’s controversial. Remember that locally, volume of homes sold is higher than last year even without the home buyer tax credit? Turns out that the experts are surprised. Nationwide there was a drop of only 3.8%.

Once again people are talking about “shadow inventory” — this time it’s “down.” Now they are defining it as “the number of properties that are not currently listed on multiple listing services and are delinquent by 90 days or more, in foreclosure and owned by lenders.” That definition keeps changing.

Banks and state Attorneys General still haven’t come to an agreement on foreclosure fraud, but two of those AGs say if the talks fail, they’re suing the banks. JP Morgan Chase is already settling some civil fraud charges. Between large numbers of people who are out of money, slow judicial systems, and fraud investigations, it may take many months to get through a backlog of foreclosures.

I’ve got some good local news. Traffic at McCarran Airport is up 5% compared to a year ago. People coming to Vegas is great news for our hotels and casinos, which obviously is good news for our entire local economy. Another bit of good news, Vegas is one of the top 25 metropolitan areas best for real estate investors.

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