Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Real Estate:

State presents spending plan to stabilize housing market

Nevada has developed a plan to spend $102.8 million in federal funds to help stabilize the market for troubled homeowners.

Lon DeWeese, chief financial officer of the Nevada Housing Division, said 60 percent of the money would be used for principal reductions of mortgages and 20 percent would be used for second-line relief.

A large number of home-equity home loans and secondary liens are interfering with borrowers’ ability to reconfigure their first mortgages, DeWeese said.

Another 11.5 percent of the money will help the unemployed complete short sales. The remaining money will boost the foreclosure mitigation industry.

“Right now they are swamped to handle the tsunami of requests for credit counseling and loan reconfiguration,” DeWeese said.

The program, which must be approved by the U.S. Treasury Department, would have the money distributed through the Nevada Affordable Housing Assistance Corp.

DeWeese said the funds should be distributed to homeowners by the end of July at the latest. The eligibility is intended for those at or below 120 percent of the region’s median income, he said.

“I think it will demonstrate there is a possibility of an innovative program to make a permanent difference for those served by it,” DeWeese said. “But this is not a cure-all for all real estate problems throughout the state because the sheer magnitude of the problem far exceeds the availability of resources at this point.”

Apartment market sales

The pace of apartment sales picked up in the first quarter of 2010 compared with the same period in 2008 and 2009, apartment market analyst Michael Belnick of RE/MAX Central Commercial said.

The 110 sales in the Las Vegas area in the first quarter were 36 percent higher than the 81 sales in the first quarter of 2009, Belnick said. Fifty-five units sold in the first quarter of 2008.

The price paid per unit, however, fell 51 percent in the first quarter of this year to $28,000 compared with the first quarter of 2009, when it was $57,200 and $93,600 in the first quarter of 2008.

Land sales go through

Michael Stuart, senior vice president of Colliers International land division in Las Vegas, said escrow has closed on the sale of Hillwood Residential’s Nevada land portfolio to a joint venture between Ridgewood Real Estate Partners and Angelo, Gordon & Co. The Hillwood portfolio consisted of five residential properties representing more than 1,800 lots in Southern Nevada, most of which are either completed or partially completed. It includes land zoned for 759 apartment units and 10 acres for commercial use. About 600 lots are finished and more than 900 are partially completed. Terms were not disclosed. Stuart said the properties are:

• Boulder Ranch in east Las Vegas features partially completed lots for 114 single-family homes and 474 triplex homes. The 55-acre community is gated with many improvements in place. It is at Boulder Highway and Desert Horizons Drive.

• Boulder Ranch Apartments, also in east Las Vegas, is 9.7 acres, partially graded for apartments. Plans call for nine three-story buildings. It is on Hollywood Boulevard just north of Russell Road.

• The Canyons in Henderson is situated on nearly 150 acres. The original site plan called for 384 single-family lots. It has since been reconfigured and rezoned for various multifamily and commercial uses. The parcel frontage on Green Valley Parkway south of Horizon Ridge Parkway will be built into four pods, which can support two apartment developments, town houses and a commercial piece.

• North Ranch’s 42 acres in North Las Vegas are part of a gated community and have the capacity for 122 duplex and 312 triplex homes. Approximately 100 of the lots have been completed, and the others are 85 percent complete. It is on North Fifth Street, just south of the Las Vegas Beltway.

• Bilbray Ranch in Laughlin consists of 497 single-family, triplex and duplex lots that are completed.

In other news

• Real Capital Analytics reported that Las Vegas has 327 troubled commercial assets valued at $15.6 billion. Among the properties added to its list is Montego Bay, a 420-unit apartment complex in Henderson whose loan was listed in default. Others in the list referred to as in default are Mammoth Professional Building, 2470 St. Rose Parkway; Courtyard Villas apartments at 1001 E. Dumont Blvd.; Pacific Asian Plaza strip mall on Spring Mountain Road; and the Charleston Tower office building at 1701 W. Charleston Blvd.

• Windermere Real Estate has donated $25,000 to Henderson Allied Community Advocates to use for homelessness prevention efforts. The 2009 endowment was raised by Windermere agents over the past year. For every transaction an agent made, a portion of the commission is donated to the foundation.

• MDA DataQuick of San Diego reported the percentage of sales of homes below $100,000 in the Las Vegas area in April fell to 29.5 percent of all transactions, down from 32.4 percent in March and 31.9 percent in April 2009. Absentee buyers purchased 42 percent of all homes in April, paying a median price of $117,000, which was up from a median price of $110,000 in March and $101,000 in April 2009. They bought 36.1 percent of the homes in April 2009. Buyers who used cash to purchase homes accounted for 48 percent of sales in April, up from 43.4 percent in April 2009. The median price paid for the all-cash deals was $112,000, up from $103,750 in March and $88,000 in April 2009.

• The Southern Nevada chapter of NAIOP will host a discussion June 17 on the future of development in the valley. The program titled, “Once a Developer ... Now What?” will feature Rick Myers, president of Thomas & Mack Development Group; John Ramous, vice president of operations with Harsch Investment Properties; Rod Martin, vice president of Majestic Realty; and Phillip Ralston, executive vice president of American Nevada Company. The program starts at 7:45 a.m. at the Orleans. To make a reservation or for more information, call 798-7194.

• Jadon Foods signed a 12-month lease in Aliante Marketplace; and Josie’s Frozen Yogurt, Sassy The Boutique and Las Vegas Pilates signed 60-month leases at The District at Green Valley Ranch.

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