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StumbleReport: LV home prices fall despite increases nationwide
Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2009 | 8:20 a.m.
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Las Vegas remains the nation's most depressed big housing market as tracked by the influential S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, with prices in the gaming capital falling for the 37th consecutive month through September.
Debt rating agency Standard & Poor's issued the monthly report today. It found that, nationwide, conditions improved in the third quarter and month-to-month prices rose again in September.
Las Vegas was an exception in September, with prices falling 0.9 percent from August; up from the 0.3 percent decline from July to August. Prices locally in September were down 28.6 percent from September 2008 and off 55.4 percent from their peak, the Case-Shiller data found.
These numbers compare to Case-Shiller's index of 20 big cities, which found prices were up 0.3 percent month-to-month in September, a slowdown from the 1.2 percent increase in August.
Nationwide, third quarter prices through September were down 8.9 percent from September 2008.
S&P called the national 8.9 percent decline a "marked improvement'' from the 14.7 percent year-to-year decline in the second quarter and the 19 percent annual decline in the first quarter.
"We have seen broad improvement in home prices for most of the past six months," David M. Blitzer, chairman of the Index Committee at Standard & Poor’s, said in today's report. "However, the gains in the most recent month are more modest than during the seasonally strong summer months.
"Fewer cities saw month to month improvements in September than in August in both seasonally adjusted and unadjusted figures,'' he said. "Earlier some analysts voiced concern that the end of the first-time home buyer program would result in a drop in activity. While housing starts did slip in October, the federal government recently extended and expanded the first-time homebuyer tax credit."
The Las Vegas numbers are in line with reports throughout the year showing broad home price declines tied first to the collapse of the subprime lending market and then to the wider recession, which has pushed unemployment locally to 13 percent in October.
The Case-Shiller numbers lag by one month statistics issued most recently by the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors covering mainly existing homes.
The Las Vegas Realtors reported that the median price of single-family homes sold in Southern Nevada in October was $139,100, up 0.8 percent from $138,000 in September.
The median price for condominiums and townhomes jumped 6.5 percent, from $65,720 in September to $70,000 in October.
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george bush is coming to vegas early next year for one of his patented motivational speeches; tickets will be available soon. hope is around the corner.
and the realtors continue to insist...
now is the time to buy...
hee hee hee!!!
Buy low ... sell high!
Hey DIPSTICK:
Where does everyone come off saying it was Bush's fault? Is his name on the bottom line of the banks / mortgage brokers that approved the loans? Is he signing for all the investors that are minipulating the prices right now in the country? He's been out of office for almost a year and yet everyone puts it on him that its his fault..The banks STILL ARE NOT loaning money even after we tax payers bailed their rear ends out..how about going after the banks and the brokers??
When we have a town with ONE source of employment in it and that source is hit by the people who drive that source, we'll never get out of the hole. The whole city depends on tourism - thats it..nothing more..and until that is fixed, we wil lalways be first to take the hit. Oh and by the way, I did not vote for Bush, so don't think thats the reason I am spouting off..
The two biggest bellwethers to watch are the Housing sector and the Auto sector. Both of them are recipients of obscene amounts of Government money but it's not working. If you track repossessions and foreclosures (see http://www.repofinder.com) it's obvious that the industries are still bleeding to death and the 'economists' are full of hot&brown. Until housing and auto prices stabilize, we are a long way out of this quagmire.
the average foreclosure is a second time move-up house, not a first time home or ghetto home. People like limpbough and Hannity don't know what they are taking about, when they talk about "lenders being force to loan money to people"
r'youngster; if it wasnt for bush, they wouldnt be considering putting bill clinton on mt. rushmore.
i hope they elect another republican president.
i get a kick outta people destroying this
country.
i've got plenty of money, my house and car are
paid for.
now, i sit back and watch these people start
useless wars and bring this country to its knees.
yep, bush, rush limpbone, o'reilley, hannity,
ensign and sarah palin are my kinda people.
bring this ol' country down, boys!
good ol' boys!
7pesos
Thanks for staying on topic with your post (said facetiously). No one gives a ****ass that you have money and your house and car are paid for. You are just one in millions in that situation so don't brag. GIve some of that money to someone who needs it for Thanksgiving or Christmas.
It is NO ONE PRESIDENT'S FAULT, but MOST of the recent probems happened on Bush's watch and he did the first bailout.
And retiredyoungster is right - unless Vegas and Nevada wake up and realize tourism ain't all that it is - then things will continue to go down the ****hole for Vegas. The city needs more than just tourism. It is obvious it can't make it on that alone.
I was back in the Big City this weekend. Tourism was alive and well in Chicago and I was surprised! No signs of any recession there! The hotels were packed, people were shopping on Mag Mile, the restaurants and bars were packed (and drinks were not cheap - almost as much as Strip prices). So it isn't that people don't have money to spend - they choose to spend it in nicer places and do more than just gambling and watching the Stripper Mobile drive down the Strip (BTW, the Binions in Indiana was packed and people were winning - yes, winning in a Harrah's casino!!!). So if people have a choice to visit a place closer to home, ie short plane ride or drive, they will choose that over Vegas any day - with the added benefit if they choose to - jump on the shuttle bus and go gambling!
Mr. Green, a historical graph displaying local housing prices vs. their property taxes would be of interest here.
: {
have a look at this link to show you what a ghost town supposed to house 1 million people looks like
http://www.creditwritedowns.com/2009/11/...
No it isn't Bush's fault, even though he tool credit for the booming economy and low unemployment rate when in fact it was because the Americna consumer was consumer steroids because of the easy credit and inflated housing values. For the longest time, before Bush, the solution to revive the economy was to encourage consumers to spend more and it usually worked because they are 60 per cent of the economy. But now that option is closed, and construction way down because of foreclosures and vacant commercial offices, what can the government do to generate jobs so that the U.S. economy can get going again? As much as Americans may not like it, but a devalued dollar makes American products more competitive, and it discourages outsourcing of jobs if foreign works are now earning more in terms of U.S. dollars. Exports is part of the solution, but only a part. When our economy does revive we face the hurdle of higher energy costs because we still import a significant amount of oil. So I would think another important area is to build up the alternative energy industry. That will take time but will pay dividends in the future.
Within the LV market, the lower end properties are actually increasing in price as investors continue to look for places to put cash and the 1st time homebuyer credit is extended. Add to this a lack of inventory and values are rising at the budget end. There are even "flippers" out there now who bought a starter home at, say, 80K cash a few months ago and are now re-selling at 100-110K.
What's skewing the statistics is what's happening at the upper end of the market, where that property that went for 600K in 2007 is now reduced to 259K and still has no offers. Or the 1.8M mansion that's now 899K! Jumbo mortgages are tough to come by these days, and people with the kind of major cash to buy outright would rather by half a dozen rentals at 150K each.
There are three kinds of lies: Lies, damned lies, and statistics. (Benjamin Disraeli)
Asking a used house salesman (realtor) if now is the time to buy is like asking a barber if it's time for a haircut LOL.
asking someone that hates realtors their opinion is like asking a fish their opinion of water.
That'll happen in a state where 65% of mortgages are currently underwater.
Yea Steven, "Hate is a strong word...that's not a term I would use myself. Used house salesman/real estate associations pretty much keep a lock on the MLS and have a powerful lobby to get Congress to pass real estate give-a-way programs like the extension of the tax credit that is helping to BK the county. They are pretty much useless middlemen in the real estate transaction in my opinion. Before you tell me I don't need to use one, I know, and a few times I haven't, but if the other end has one I have no choice. Like most other Americans, we just don't hold used house salesman in very high esteem. I think that this profession could use a big make over starting with the way everyone in the housing food chain is paid by what I see as a corrupt commission process from the salesperson, to the bank, to the appraiser, etc. Don't get me wrong, I love real estate, in fact I own quite a bit of it. I'm not alone in viewing the real estate biz as I do. Here is a Harris poll and you'll see that realtors/brokers are at the bottom of the list, even below actors.
http://www.harrisinteractive.com/harris_...
In LV, the percentage of mortgages underwater is actually a staggering 81%!! As I tried to point out above, though, there are different sub-markets and one must be careful to generalize. Is now a good time to buy a house? Well, it depends, right? What's your time horizon? Can you truly afford the mortgage and all the ancillary financial responsibilities of property ownership? Are you truly living a lifestyle that you can support through thick and thin?
Blaming real estate agents for one's own miscalculations in life is the sign of a small mind. Did you make a foolish purchase and need someone to blame? Fine. Take a good long look in the mirror!!
ok, for the last freaking time.
there is no "lock" on the MLS.
realtors pay MONEY to list and search for homes on the MLS. that's not a "lock", idiot.
that's like saying apple has a "lock" on an ipod.
you don't HAVE to use an ipod, there are many other mp3 players, but if you want an ipod...you have to buy one from apple.
is apple unethical for doing that?
lol! "like most of america, you don't hold a used house salesman in high regard"?
lol!
well, considering we need a license to do it, and people allow us into their homes, i'd say that point is as moronic as all the "realtors are evil" nonsense.
the anti-realtor people are stupid.
don't want to use a realtor? fine.
you totally can sell your house without us.
want your home to be on the MLS so other realtors and people can find it on www.realtor.com ( which is in fact, the MLS )?
list with a realtor.
a corrupt commission process?
so, me working for free...using my own time and gas, with no base salary, to sell your home for the highest price possible...and my commission being a direct result of me getting the highest price possible for you is corrupt?
i think that's probably the purest and most fair compensation possible.
i sell your home = i get paid.
i don't sell your home = i get nothing.
maybe if the cashier at burger king was paid on commission he'd look at my face, say "hi", and get my order correct.
prices are still going to drop at least a further 20% wait until the world stimulus is withdrawn, 2011 is going to be very very bad
Who in their right mind would want to be a cheap ass cookie cutter grade 3 materials home in Las Vegas?
dont forget about the chinese drywall!
Det Munch sounds to me like your looking for some free handouts huh? Its nobodys fault that people work hard for their money and save and invest unlike 95% of the American people that get money and spend it. That is why we are in the trouble that we are in now you had people who were making 100,000 a year combined household income and lived like they made 100,000 a year and didnt save a dime. Now that one of them have lost a job they now have no money and are filing bk and foreclosing on their home. So everyone needs to quit blaming the presidents for the economy when we the American people are the economy.
Steve I totally agree with you I am a insurance agent and get paid on commission only. I think that if everybody went into something that they were paid on their production nobody would be complaining and this economy wouldnt be hurting because people would have to work hard and do whatever it takes. We would be able to produce a decent product and not have to import everything to keep the people in China working. So once again another thing that is a typical American wanting to put the blame on someone else.
How much does it cost to build a track home? I currently reside in one (1200sqft), paid a whopper for it five years ago (two months before the crash lol) and am wondering how low the price can go. The price shouldnt fall below the actually hard-labor and construction cost so what is that value? I have no knowledge of building costs. Anyone have an estimate?