Report: Vegas home prices at 2003 levels

Monday, Aug. 18, 2008 | 8:03 a.m.

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Beyond the Sun

View the Zillow.com report

Owners of more than half of all homes sold in the Las Vegas area in the past five years have negative equity in their homes, according to a new report.

The report from Zillow.com, which tracks real estate values across the country, indicates that home prices in the Las Vegas area have fallen to levels not seen since 2003, and homes sold for a loss in the second quarter of this year made up 69 percent of all home sales.

According to Zillow, the average home in the region -- including single-family homes and condos -- is valued at $205,500, which is down more than 27 percent from a year ago, and down more than 34 percent from the market's peak of $313,275 in the first quarter of 2006.

The report indicates that 99.4 percent of homes lost value in the past year.

Among the report's other findings:

- More than 48 percent of homes sold in the Las Vegas area in the second quarter of 2008 were foreclosures.

- About 70 percent of homeowners who purchased their homes in 2005, 2006 or 2007 have negative equity in their home. For example, about 73 percent of homes purchased in 2006 have negative equity, with homeowners having median equity of minus $52,444.

The full report is available here.

Discussion: 16 comments so far…

By robert_lv

8/18/08 at 9:08 a.m.

Suggest removal

"We are almost at the bottom." "The recovery is just around the corner." "Now is a great time to buy."

Where are the housing clowns Dennis Smith, Steven Bottfield and Patty Kelley? When will we stop subsidizing these incompetents? They should be run right out of town.
By azsk8fan

8/18/08 at 9:18 a.m.

Suggest removal

Even at 205,000 - how many single Americans making between 10-12 an hour can afford to buy a house anymore? I certainly can't. The American Dream is either A. DEAD or B. Only for the RICH or C. Only for 2 income families who work till the day they day .........hey, nice - the goverment saves on paying on Social Security. What a plan, huh.
By kbushbak

8/18/08 at 9:50 a.m.

Suggest removal

80-100% leverage is the only way people can own a home in our country. Gone are the days of 50% LTV at purchase. Because of the leverage, one little hiccup (or a huge Tsunami) can have LOOOOOONNNNGGGG lasting effects.

Prices will continue to go down until buyers/sellers equal out. Speculation is part of any market, but if rampant speculation comes back into the market, it will be VERY short lived. The wounds are too fresh. Therefore, prices will remain here, go down or stay unchanged for a long time.
By azsk8fan

8/18/08 at 10:15 a.m.

Suggest removal

Oh here's a thought - we can get all of our extended family to pile into one home, ya know, chip in and everyone lives with everyone else....

oh wait, that's what the illegals are doing now - and the philipino's who live 10 people to a 1 room dump, sleeping on the floor, working at walmart and sending all their money back to the philipines where they will build a house, all pile in and be looked upon as the rich and famous - and yes, I am talking about 10 people for real who are doing just that. So much for dumping money back into the American economy - you know, the country where they are making their money..........this country is in real trouble.
By vandermeyj

8/18/08 at 10:22 a.m.

Suggest removal

Sales have been increasing at an increasing rate for 7 straight months. (http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2008/aug...)
This tells me we have already reached a bottom. True we might stay at this bottom for a month or two or twelve, but, smart buyers are buying now.

Sorry if you bought to flip and it isnt working out for you. Sorry if you bought more house than you can afford. But if your just negative you will just have to ride it out, just likes the dips that happen in the stockmarket.
By NVMakz

8/18/08 at 10:35 a.m.

Suggest removal

I totally agree with "vandermeyj" here. The harder numbers indicate the free market in r/e - to me - are getting up off the deck.

The people who went to the edge financially; those out-of-staters who bought like 35 houses to flip; those who weren't whatever enough to understand the ramifications of adjustable mortgages THEY SIGNED == well, shoot, there ya go.
By azsk8fan

8/18/08 at 10:44 a.m.

Suggest removal

Buy and Flip? More house than one can afford? I fit none of the above - I'd just like to buy a small 2 bedroom 1 bath house to LIVE IN and that I can afford to keep paying on in 3 yrs. when I retire.........I certainly don't fit the profile of one who lives beyond their means which is exactly why I DON'T buy a home - I know that in 3 yrs. I would not be able to make the payment - so I continue to rent and pay off someone else's home and in 3 yrs. I will move into a studio apt.
By vandermeyj

8/18/08 at 10:57 a.m.

Suggest removal

if you are 3 years from retirement make $10-12 an hour, have no down payment than its unreasonable to expect to buy a home. You could buy a trailer in a park (nothing wrong with that!) And then it will be yours if thats important. We all need to own up to the results of the choices we make in life.
By neiman1

8/18/08 at 3:23 p.m.

Suggest removal

The prices will keep going down and the vacancies up with the cost of energy. Wait until pay higher taxes for gas, oil, coal. They will make the corporations pay it and then we will pay them. The hidden taxes we pay are all corporate taxes. We need to keep the 700 billion here and not send it overseas unless we expect to buy our energy from Russia. Lets drill and build nuclear now while we invest in technology for the future. Contact harry reid before we all lose our homes.

email link
http://reid.senate.gov/contact/index.cfm...

Las Vegas
Lloyd D. George Building
333 Las Vegas Boulevard South, Suite 8016
Las Vegas, NV 89101
Phone: 702-388-5020 / Fax: 702-388-5030
By VegasRepos

8/18/08 at 4:13 p.m.

Comment removed by staff.
By RealEstateEconomist

8/18/08 at 5:42 p.m.

Suggest removal

It's likely prices will drop till they reach 3 times income levels of the residents in the neighborhood.

During the boom, some areas reached ratio where home prices bubbled up to 10 to 1.

If you want to see what what happens to prices when they return to the historical ratio, check out the Home Price Ceiling fundamental at
www.UsHousingMeltdown.org just type in your zip code.

I found a home pricing tool that provides some insights to future home prices by indicating the top level and bottom level of prices for a particular property. The top or price Ceiling is the highest prices can be limited by the income levels of the zip-code. The bottom, or Floor is the lowest prices can be based on their ability to generate a yield from rental income. Check this out at www.UsHousingMeltdown.org Look for the Ceiling and Floor tools
By exit2dos

8/19/08 at 6:30 a.m.

Suggest removal

Aside from financing woes, these new homes are all built with the cheapest prefab materials which are than stapled together and will probably fall apart before the mortgage is paid off, anyway. The houses are overpriced junk which people will walk away from when these shoddy shacks, sold to suckers, start failing.
By azsk8fan

8/20/08 at 6:38 a.m.

Suggest removal

exit, not to mention those that are building them are usually illegals who have no legitimate skills. There was a time was carpentry was an 'art', a 'skill'....now you just put a hammer and nail in their hands and they call themselves carpenters. Same with electricians, and dry-wall tapers, again it was an 'art' to tape a wall and have it appear 'seamless'. Now you can give someone a lawn mower and what was once a 'grass mowing person' is now a LANDSCAPER - get real! I wouldn't buy a new house now either because the people building these homes really don't have a clue on how to do it right. If you don't believe me come to the gated community where I work and see for yourselves. After they have the illegals throw these houses up in no time flat, and after the homes are sold it's only then that we see REAL Electricians, Carpenters etc. - that's when the builder has to send in the 'real deal' to fix all the problems the illegals created with their shoddy work. Only then do we get to see (and hear) ENGLISH speaking (usually White or Black) people come to get the job done right.
By PatriciaLV

8/20/08 at 7:14 a.m.

Suggest removal

Agree on most points, az, but I wouldn't put all the blame for the shoddy workmanship on the illegals.

The developers are ALWAYS cutting costs by (a) using illegals; and, (b) using substandard (or barely-to-code) materials. And lest we forget, there are crunched timelines to get these shacks (!) to market. I'd put the bulk of the blame on the developers AND the on-site supervisors/managers.

Where are the inspections? Where is the during-construction oversight? Can't be happening else much of this would be discovered pre-sale.

But that would cost the developer money ... and we can't have any of that.
By azsk8fan

8/20/08 at 9:27 a.m.

Suggest removal

Yes, I do blame the developers and I see it on a daily basis - sending workers who can't speak a word of english other than to tell me the contractors name in order to get thru the gate. It's a shame too because after they sell these pieces of crap they call a home and after the new homeowner moves in THEN I see the 'real deal'. The real licensed carpenters, contractors, electricians etc. when they come to clean up the messes these so-called professional home builders left behind. What a shame - all the for almighty buck.