Henderson Nevada Homes » Holiday Season

December Real Estate Update

Stephen Roberts — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 01:58:14 +0000

The month of December was a good one for the real estate market, and will hopefully be a sign of things to come in the near future here in the Henderson and Las Vegas Valley. December ranked in as the second highest month in the year in the sales category. The sale of new homes is also on the rise. Foreclosures were unexpectedly low in the month of December, inventory continued to decline, and housing inventory continued to decline.

The inventory of foreclosed houses has been an unexpected surprise in last quarter of 2009. More foreclosures were sold in December than put on the market, which is a good sign for price stability. The median price for a new home jumped 5.8 percent from November to December. Resale prices remained low, only dropping a few thousand. A little over half of existing home closings in the month of December were bank-owned homes with a median closing price of roughly $116,000.

All this information could be a great sign for the housing market here in the Henderson and Las Vegas Valley. Hopefully 2010 will be a successful year for the real estate market, it looks like it is getting a good start.

For all your Real Estate needs contact Steve Roberts at 702-739-4392 or visit my website at www.hendersonrealestateonline.com!

McCarran Traffic Up In November

Stephen Roberts — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 21:13:27 +0000

For the first and only time in the past year traffic at McCarran International Airport was up from a year ago in the month of November. Traffic rose only .1 percent, but it is much better than the previous months’ numbers, down 8.7 percent. It looks like we are beginning to see some more tourist activity back in the Las Vegas area which is very good for the economy. Denver also showed a robust increase in the number of travelers through their airport. Internationally traffic was up 5.3 percent in November, partly due to the nonstop flight from Las Vegas to London’s Heathrow International Airport. Hopefully we are beginning to see our way out of this recession. Tourism going up could definitely lead to more jobs in the near future for Nevadans.

Homebuyers Rush for Tax Credit

Stephen Roberts — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 21:23:27 +0000

First-time homebuyers make up a large percentage of the home sales here in the Las Vegas and Henderson Valley. Many tax preparers are busier than normal during this offseason due to congress’ extension on the $8,000 credit for first-time homebuyers last month. Congress also expanded it to other buyers who can receive up to $6,500. It has been stated that the expansion of the tax credit has created some confusion among the buyers who have tried to file for this tax credit. The $6,500 tax credit only applies to those who closed November 6 or later, many people did not realize this, leaving many people to believe they were qualified for the tax credit. The tax credit has been extended until April 30 of 2010, with the purchase required to be completed by June. Congress will likely have to act for the credit to be extended beyond that date. The homeowner must also live in the home for 36 months or they must repay the tax credit. Many first time homebuyers have been seeking help from tax preparers on this issue, bringing in more business than normal during this home buying off season.

For all your Real Estate needs contact Steve Roberts at 702-739-4392.

Nevada Foreclosure Filings Continue to Fall

Stephen Roberts — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 22:00:29 +0000

It has been reported that foreclosure filings in Nevada dropped by double digits for the second consecutive month. The filings this past November were 33 percent below what they were in 2008. It is still being questioned whether or not this is a temporary reprieve or if the market is truly turning around. It appears that the government’s new mediation program that was implemented this past July is having a positive effect on foreclosure ratings. This program is keeping many people in their homes or it is allowing them to short sell their homes, lowering the number of foreclosures in the Las Vegas and Henderson Valley.

If foreclosure rates continue to drop it will be incredibly beneficial to the real estate market here in the Valley. This would allow the inventory of homes to be sold and the prices to stabilize. It does seem very possible that the improvement in the foreclosure rating could help bring this state out of its real estate crisis. We have a long way to go here in Nevada but it seems as though things are beginning to pick themselves up.

For information on purchasing foreclosures in the Henderson/Las Vegas market please visit our website.

For all your Real Estate needs contact Steve Roberts at 702-739-4392.

New-Home Sales Stalled in Las Vegas and Henderson

Stephen Roberts — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 20:08:23 +0000

Even though the Las Vegas and Henderson housing market is showing strong signs of recovery, it’s still hurting in many ways. One of those ways is the new housing market. Sales of existing homes in Las Vegas and Henderson strongly rebounded this year and prices appear to be stabilizing. However, in the new-home category, the performance has not been up to par. There have been a reported 4,069 new-home closings through October. That is down 54 percent from a year ago, compared with an astounding 65 percent increase in existing-home sales. The median price for a new home in October was driven down to $205,000, which is a 16.6 percent decline from a year ago. Existing-home median prices have suffered a steeper decline of 31.7 percent over the course of the year, but the prices look like they are beginning to stabilize.

It has been very tough for builders to be able to beat out competition from bank-owned homes in the Las Vegas and Henderson area. Most of these homes are being sold below the market value for cash-only transactions. It seems as though foreclosures are not going to be dwindling down in the coming year. It is estimated that roughly 50,000 foreclosed homes may hit the market in the coming year, making it even harder for new-home sales to pick up. To learn more about purchasing foreclosed homes visit our website. It is looking like new-home builders will need to continue to postpone their building until the majority of the existing homes here in Las Vegas are occupied. Until then there is no reason to continue building new homes.

For all your real-estate needs contact Steve Roberts at 702-739-4392.

November Market Update

Stephen Roberts — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 21:13:38 +0000

Overall in the Henderson and Las Vegas market for November the housing prices remained relatively flat. Single family homes are hitting their seasonal slump around the holiday season, and sales are slowing down. The single family median home price has dropped 24.7 percent from a year ago down to $140,000. Condominium prices have also dropped 25 percent from a year ago and are down to a median price of $68,000. The number of homes for sale has fallen 8.4 percent from a year ago to 20,847 in the month of November. Only 8,385 of those homes are available without a current offer.

A little over 40 percent of homes were purchased with cash in the month of November, indicating that investors have returned to the Las Vegas and Henderson real estate markets. Bank owned properties accounted for 61 percent of the sales. Many people are becoming fed up with the banks in the real estate market. Last year prices fell really low when banks dumped thousands of properties onto the market, causing prices to dramatically drop. This caused almost everybody who has purchased a home in the past 10 years to have a negative value on their property. Currently the banks are not putting enough homes on the market to keep up with demand. Many times buyers find homes at a price that they can afford, only to find out that they are up against 20 or more offers. Banks will take up a month to approve a sale, usually selecting cash buyers before those who need financing. Lately the market has seen an interesting shift from foreclosures to short sales as a higher percentage of total sales.

For some Things to Consider When Purchasing a Foreclosure Property please visit our website.

For all your real-estate needs contact Steve Roberts at 702-739-4392.

Experts are “Cautiously Optimistic” On Market

Stephen Roberts — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 21:34:14 +0000

Many financing, gaming and real-estate executives recently gave an assessment on their predictions of the Las Vegas’ economy and real-estate market. Many are optimistic about the future of the market here in the Las Vegas and Henderson valley. Corporate VP of development at Stations Casinos, Tom Roberts, stated that the gaming industry is stabilizing and showing small signs of recovery, and the recovery of the real estate market will be a part of that. They realize that stability in the real-estate market is crucial to the overall economy here in the valley. Things in the residential real estate market seem to be looking up and hopefully we will begin climbing back up the ladder.

In terms of commercial real estate, the success of that market is very circumstantial at this point. Those with better location and product type have an obvious leg up on the competition. The problem with most of the vacated space here in the valley is that there are no new companies coming in to fill the space of the failed ones. We hope that the stabilization of the residential real-estate market will in turn help the commercial market.

I hope everybody has a happy and joyful Holiday Season!

For all your real-estate needs contact Steve Roberts at 702-739-4392.

Mediation Reduce Foreclosures

Stephen Roberts — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 20:37:23 +0000

Nevada’s new foreclosure mediation program is helping reduce the number of foreclosures here in the Las Vegas and Henderson valley. The program gives homeowners who are being foreclosed upon, the right to seek mediation. Although Nevada is still ranked number one in foreclosures, filings fell twenty six percent from September to October, and four percent from October 2008. The program gives home owners an opportunity to work out a deal with the lenders, and often times leads to short sales.

Another reason that the foreclosure rating is starting to decline is because of the recent stability in home prices. This fact makes it more likely that a lender will approve a short sale over a foreclosure. Some evidence that was obtained by mediators has shown that there has been over a sixty percent success rating in the mediation. Success means that something happened with the loan other than proceeding with the foreclosure. This has overall been a positive step for Nevada Real Estate, especially in the Las Vegas and Henderson valley. It is good to see some positive changes in the Nevada economy.

For Things to Know When Considering Purchasing an REO/Foreclosure Property please visit our website.

For all your Real Estate needs contact Steve Roberts at 702-739-4392.

First-Time Homebuyers Lead Housing Economy to Recovery

Stephen Roberts — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 19:04:54 +0000

According to the National Association of Realtors, the housing economy appears to be headed for a sustainable recovery, aided by the home buyer tax credit. The tax credit expansion will help increase sales for first time buyers through the middle of 2010. This year alone it looks as though there will be about 2.4 million first-time home buyers in the nation. First time buyers accounted for a record 47% of home sales over the past year, up from 41% in 2008.

A steady decrease in home inventory will help home values turn positive in the coming year. Affordability will decline from record highs next year but will still remain at incredibly affordable levels for qualified home buyers. It’s projected that home prices will rise between 3 and 5% in 2010, finally stabilizing the housing market. It also seems as though the unemployment rate is peaking at about 9.5%, so we are hoping that 2010 will bring a more stable economy not only for the housing market, but for the nation as a whole.

See our website for a quick look at the benefits of Buying vs. Renting.

For all your Real Estate needs contact Steve Roberts at 702-739-4392.

Investors take advantage of Las Vegas Market

Stephen Roberts — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:23:47 +0000

Absentee buyers bought an astounding 40.2 percent of all Las Vegas homes in August, the most for any month this decade, including the 39.3 percent in November of 2005 during the housing boom. It is stated that 45 percent of Las Vegas buyers in August used cash to pay for their homes, showing the level of investor interest. Much of the housing market in the U.S. show that prices have overcorrected and that Las Vegas is undervalued in comparison to the rest of the nation.

Investors are buying houses with cash and renting them out for a positive cash flow. This mentality is a bit different than the investors’ mentality during the housing boom of buy and flip. Surprisingly the number of investors has yet to dwindle down and investors are still looking for good deals here in the Las Vegas and Henderson valley. There are still a plethora of deals currently on the market for investors to take advantage of.

For all your real-estate needs contact Steve Roberts at 702-739-4392.