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Published Thursday, Feb. 12, 2009 | 2:10 a.m.
Updated Thursday, Feb. 12, 2009 | 6:16 p.m.
Sun Topics
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Las Vegas Realtor statistics
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A second report issued this week on foreclosure trends shows foreclosure filings declined nationwide and in Nevada last month, but offered little optimism for a quick turnaround in the housing market.
Nevada again had the highest foreclosure rate in the nation in January and among the nation’s metro areas, Las Vegas was No. 2 in the report issued by RealtyTrac of Irvine, Calif.
RealtyTrac’s January 2009 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report shows foreclosure filings — default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions — were reported on 274,399 U.S. properties during the month, a 10 percent decrease from December but up 18 percent from January 2008.
“The extensive foreclosure efforts on the part of lenders and government agencies appear to have impacted the January numbers — particularly the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac moratorium on all foreclosure sales that was extended through the end of January along with Florida’s voluntary 45-day freeze on all new foreclosure actions and scheduling of foreclosure sales that was announced at the beginning of December,” James Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac, said in a statement.
He said completed foreclosure sales were down 15 percent nationwide from December.
ForeclosureS.com said Wednesday in its own report that its analysis of the January numbers indicates the real estate market is recovering. But RealtyTrac doesn’t see it that way.
Foreclosures will increase again and probably peak this year, and it may be 2011 before all the foreclosures in the market and in the pipeline are dealt with, said Rick Sharga, senior vice president of RealtyTrac.
He said adjustable-rate mortgages continue to adjust to higher rates, making it more difficult for homeowners to make payments; and rising unemployment is adding to the stockpile of foreclosed homes.
The true indicator of a turnaround in the real estate market, he said, is when prices stop falling.
"As long as you see things like sales are up 6 percent and pricing is down 15 percent, that suggests investors are buying the most distressed properties,’’ he said.
A turnaround will be indicated by two things, he said: "When you see sales activity increase without the coincidental drop in pricing and when you see the foreclosures are slowing down absent any government or industry moratorium.’’
Nevada legislators are considering measures to reduce foreclosures in the state. Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley, for instance, has a bill requiring lenders to offer to negotiate mortgages with borrowers who face foreclosure.
But Sharga said efforts by government and industry to stem the tide of foreclosures nationwide and in individual states have only delayed the day of reckoning for most delinquent homeowners, many of whom are "under water.’" That means they owe more on their home than the property is worth and they have little to lose by walking away from the mortgage.
"What we’ve seen with moratorium or delay tactics is that when the delay is over, foreclosures jump back to the number before the delays,’’ he said. "What they do is delay the inevitable for most homeowners. They extend the housing downturn.’’
RealtyTrac said Nevada foreclosure activity in January decreased 4 percent from the previous month, but the state continued to register the nation’s No. 1 foreclosure rate, with one in every 76 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing during the month. Foreclosure filings were reported on 14,444 Nevada properties in January, up 137 percent from January 2008.
California posted the nation’s second-highest state foreclosure rate in January, with one in every 173 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing during the month, and Arizona posted the nation’s third-highest state foreclosure rate, with one in every 182 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing during the month.
California cities accounted for six of the top 10 metro foreclosure rates in January among metro areas with a population of 200,000 or more. Merced, Calif., (between Modesto and Fresno), posted the top metro foreclosure rate, with one in every 59 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing during the month.
Other California metro areas with foreclosure rates among the top 10: Riverside-San Bernardino at No. 4 with one in every 81 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing; Modesto at No. 5 with one in every 84 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing; Stockton at No. 6 with one in every 86 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing; Vallejo-Fairfield at No. 7 with one in every 100 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing; and Bakersfield at No. 8 with one in every 120 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing.
One in every 63 housing units received a foreclosure filing in the Las Vegas metro area. The Reno-Sparks metro area posted the 10th highest metro foreclosure rate, with one in every 128 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing.
Separately, the National Association of Realtors today reported that home prices continued to fall in most U.S. metro areas in the fourth quarter of 2008.
Nationwide, the median sales price plunged from $200,400 in the third quarter to $180,100 in the fourth quarter.
The median price fell even more in the Las Vegas area, from $211,600 to $181,700, the Realtors said.
In the fourth quarter, 134 out of 153 metropolitan statistical areas showed declines in median existing single-family home prices from the same period in 2007, pulled down by active sales at the lower end that were driven by foreclosures, the NAR said.
Distressed sales -- foreclosures and short sales -- accounted for 45 percent of transactions in the fourth quarter, dragging down the national median existing single-family price to $180,100, 12.4 percent below the fourth quarter of 2007.
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said the market is clearly depressed from job losses and consumer concerns about the economy.
"Assuming housing provisions in the economic stimulus package are quickly enacted and provide enough encouragement for home buyers, we could see a quick lift in home sales for the critical spring home-buying season," he said in a statement. "If that occurs, we could see home prices begin to stabilize in many metro areas later this year as supply and demand begin to return to balance, which would greatly benefit the overall economy."
Steve Green can be reached at steve.green@hbcpub.com or 990-7714.
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all these report from who know where stating the housing sale are up are b.s. i think someone is stating this so they joping will start buying not going to work
Perry, go back to bed, you're comatose.
A house beside mine went into foreclosure. Poor dope bought it for $316G, it cost $140G in 2000. Now somebody just bought it for $187G at auction, and they are doing a complete renovation. So maybe sense is coming back to the market. Hope they don't have a barking dog...
You all bought poorly built houses that were not properly inspected,built by mexicans who could care less and then you paid too much on a bad loan.Your brain is as dead as Perry's
Ed,
Is it necessary to bring up race? Do you not have enough intelligence to make a point without having to single out a nationality? Please tell me, what is the issue you truly have with Mexicans? Why single them out? We need to focus on the real issue here. We made some pretty bad decisions; buying houses we couldn't afford. We can't blame the Mexicans for our American greed.
WE'RE #1, WE'RE #1, WE'RE #1
Just stating the facts soccer 12.I don't have issue's but you seem to.Just stating the facts from 29 yrs. experience building in this valley.I know shody work when I see it and know how to fix it.
Ed,
Your comments are not facts, they are generalizations. You haven't gained any credibility by stating that you have 29 years of experience. If you think that your 29 years of experience in one single geographic area captures the entire sample size of homes being built in the United States, well.... you're ignorant. So, are Mexicans to blame for all the homes that are foreclosed in Maine too? How is that possible? There aren't many Mexicans building homes in Maine.
Well, by all means let's keep on with that Community Reinvestment Act; Nothing ,like having 5 million impoverished illegals getting mortgages, brought, in large part, because people like Hussein Obama sued Citicorp on behalf of Illinois ACORN, to bring a little "power to the people".
In addition to all the other wonderful attributes illegal immigration has brought to Clark County, I guess we can add the economic disaster brought on by forcing banks to give illegals loans, as one of them.
A
Ed you are right about the shoddy work -I see it at work every day and I see the workers who have built the homes and you are right about their ethnicity. The only time I see any Black or White guys doing repairs is after the home has been sold and warranty work kicks in to fix all the crap that thrown together wrong to begin with. I wouldn't buy one of those foreclosed homes regardless of the price because I know how they were thrown together by workers who thought holding a hammer and nail made them a carpenter or throwing tape on the seams of some drywall made them professional tapers - these types of jobs used to be considered an art - kids started in HS in their woodshop class and honed their skills to become carpenters - guys worked their up the ranks from apprentice to journymen when aspiring to be plumbers, electricians etc. all that has certainly changed and the end result is a poorly built home.
soccer12,
When you decide to be politically-correct, at least bring up a plausible analogy and not something that is so thoroughly ill-suited as you did, because it completely destroys your argument.
It was far too easy to see that Ed was speaking about ILLEGAL ALIEN Mexicans (as well as a few other foreign illegals), and unfortunately didn't specify in detail what he really meant. Most Americans of Mexican descent would rightfully resent his comment about 'Mexicans'.
Thus, your ONLY correct point.
The problem is that Nevada has far and away the highest foreclosure rate of _any_ state and Las Vegas has the second highest metro rate of _any_ city (only surpassed by Merced, CA).
Both California and Nevada (as well as Arizona) have massive percentages of illegal alien workers in the construction industry (unlike Maine). The vast majority of homes built in the last 10 years in those states have in fact been built by illegal alien labor, and it's very easy to understand why those workers have zero interest in caring about whether this country succeeds or not, and whether citizens here have quality homes to live in. Anything newly built here is likely better than anything they could have ever had in Mexico. Slap it together and get paid less than half the going rate for construction? Hell, if the house sells for the same price as if an American worker built it, the greedy developers are more than happy to trip over themselves luring those people over to do their dirty work for dirt wages.
Maine (your favorite example) on the other hand?
Oops! Not very many foreclosures (percentage-wise or any other way you want to calculate it), and not many illegal aliens EITHER. Duh!
Find another, much better example please.
That one really sucked.