Compare Las Vegas Price Trends to other National Markets

We have watched how this Price Trend has Steadily Risen through the Summer.

Now it's starting to climb even faster.

The question is, Why?

Why is it climbing so fast?

My Opinion ...

People believe that we hit the bottom and prices will never be this low again.

Investors are grabbing everything and anything they can get.

Interest Rates have been trending up.

The combination of all of this is resulting in Prices Going UP!

Home Price Index report from Lender Processing Services (LPS) 

I find this very interesting.
Skip the numbers and check out the miniature graphs on the left
and compare them to the graph of Las Vegas up top.
AZ and CA are very similar to Las Vegas.
Texas and Colorado don't even look like they ever had a
 Recession, Depression, Bubble or anything.
Also notice that in every major market shown above,
they are All Trending Upward.

National Real Estate Market has Affect on Las Vegas

Las Vegas, more so than probably any other city in the US,

is directly affected by the National Economy.

As a Vacation destination, the better the rest of the country does, the better we will do.

People across the country are buying houses again because

Housing is considered to be more affordable than in the past.

Cash Buyers are more confident that if they put their money in a Home,

it wont lose its value like it has over the past several years.

When people buy homes, they usually put money into them.

New appliances, paint and carpet.

This spurs the economy.

Home owners seeing home values rise again are more likely to

"buckle down" and make that mortgage payment.

Nationally thing seem to be moving in the right direction.

This should have a positive affect on Las Vegas and our Housing Market.

Just Listed in Downtown Historical District

Hello One and ALL,

Elaine and I recently took a New Listing we thought some of you might be interested in. 

The most Interesting and Unique feature of this house is its location.

It is located in the John S Park Historical District in Downtown Las Vegas.

It is walking distance to all the new development that has been happening in the area.

If you know anybody interested in previewing this home or any others in this upcoming area,

please give them our name and number, and have them give us a call.

This beautiful charming home is located in the heart of John S Park Historic District and is on over a quarter acre lot. It boasts a big open living area with wood burning fireplace and large bay window overlooking the lush front yard. Den could be 3rd bedroom with a full wall of built-in shelves, drawers and cabinets.. The dining and family rooms look out on park like backyard with mature fruit trees, a lovely fountain and lots of room for the urban farmer in you. There is a detached one car garage that would make a great artist studio or workshop and an extra shed for storage. This home has been well cared for! Walking distance to First Fridays, Art District, The Outlets, Legal District, Zappo's and more!

 To view more pictures and details, please click the following link.

CLICK HERE

Nevada AB 300 - Will it solve the Shadow Inventory problem or cause a new one?

As of June 1, 2013 Nevada passed AB300 designed to solve some of the problems caused by AB284.

AB284 was designed to set up rules for the banks to follow when foreclosing on a property. If you remember the robo-signing scandal where banks were illegally foreclosing on properties without all the proper documentation.  They were afraid that would lead to crazy law suits were a family thinking they purchased a house in good standing to then be kicked out so the original owner could have it back.

A huge potential legal and social mess.

The bad part of AB284 is that banks were afraid to foreclose on these homes because they could face large fines and legal fees. So they didn't. In the short run it had a positive affect on the market, low supply and increasing demand led to increasing prices.  Now it's being viewed as the reason you look around your neighborhood and there's that house that has been sitting vacant for a couple of years now.

This is what they referred to as the "Shadow Inventory".

AB300 is now trying to set up new guidelines for the banks to follow to avoid all the issues previously stated. 

Many people are concerned that this is going to cause the banks to flood the market with this extra inventory and lead to another "crash".

I don't think so. The banks have never done anything at a fast pace. We would be lucky to see an extra 1,000 a month released on the market. With the current demand, that would have almost no affect.

In my opinion, I think people have become cynical.  Over the past 6 years we have had so much bad news, and now people just expect more.  The worst is behind us.

Why are Prices Going Up So Fast?

Activity is staying the same, so why are prices on the rise?

In this Humble Realtors opinion, Buyers believe the worst is behind us.

They want to buy now at today's prices, before the properties become less affordable.

Sellers, if there going to sell, they want top dollar.

Inventory is low, Interest Rates are low, People want to Buy Now, Sellers want $

Prices Go Up!

S&P / Case-Shiller Home Price Indices - First Quarter 2013

This can be a confusing graph...

Keep in mind there is a 10-city line and a 20-city line.

Las Vegas is part of the 20-city composite.

Also, the graph is charting the percentage of change over the previous year.

You can see from 2005 to 2009 we had a huge swing from

15% in growth to a 17% decline.

For many home owners, depending on when they purchased,

that was over 50% of their homes value.

The good news is that many people are getting some of that equity back.

Las Vegas Homes Price Spike... #1 in Nation

Prices are racing upward again.

Does that mean we are blowing up another bubble?

We shall see. . .

You can see from previous Blog Posts and the graph below,

we are still way below what "True Values" should be.