User profile: VegasRepos

Thanks to the Sun for bringing up a very important problem for not just Las Vegas catholics but for the community as a whole. 700,000 catholics in southern Nevada and only 1 catholic High School and 7 catholic elemtary schools? Phoenix has 7 times as many high schools and 4 times as many elementary schools but only 2 times the population. Everyone has known for decades that Las Vegas like Phoenix is a rapidly growing metro area, why has the Las Vegas diocese built only 1 new elementary school since 1965? Clearly this diocese has been behind the eight ball and needs to take a much more bold and aggressive approach in servicing the catholic comminity's needs. The diocese states that money is the main issue. Yet the diocese sits on several extremely valuable properties in the resort corridor, Guardian Angel Cathedral right next to Wynn/Encore and Shrine of the Most Holy Redeemer across from Luxor propbably worth tens of millions of dollars. Wouldn't it be a better use of resources to sell these properties and finance the schools and parishes that are in demand in suburban locations just as they sold the old Bishop Gorman campus to fund the new one? Or sell or combine older parishes to fund new ones? Is a busy commercial corner like Flamingo and Eastern or Maryland Parkway the best place for a school? With waiting lists and try outs necessary to just to get into Kindergarden and many parents making long drives from the suburbs to bring their kids into centrally located older schools it is time we Catholics pull together, give more from ourselves, ask more of our diocese and provide young Catholics the opportunity to receive a quality Catholic education.

Not only was there a seasonal drop in sales this month, but there was also a drop this month because the Nehemiah down payment assistance program ended October 31st. Thererfore, a lot of people bought in October in order to take advantage of this program. On the bright side, sales are up more than 100% from this time last year. With the median home price being below $190,000 it makes sense to buy and many people are doing that in spite of tougher financing standards. With many repo homes listed at under $65 per square foot and even some new homes selling from $75 per sq. foot ( see: http://www.VegasRepos.com for examples ) many mortgages are less than rents, and many homes are being sold for less than replacement cost. This is why sales are up over 100%.

I agree with joncmac. Inventory is holding steady and prices are as well. Recently the banks repos, which are pulling the market down, have begun to hold on to foreclosures and only list them as other foreclosures come off the market. That way they don't shoot themselves in the foot by driving the price down further. If inventory is being controlled then prices will hold relatively steady. Also with many homes at below $70 per sq. foot ( well below replacement cost ) see: http://www.VegasRepos.com for details, many buyers a realizing this is a good time to buy and hold for the long term as indicated by rising sales. Combine that with new housing starts at an all time low and tens of thousands of new jobs coming to Las Vegas, people are realizing this temporary crisis will not last forever and will probably turn on a dime just as in previous cycles.

This is the silver lining to the cloud. Prices below $200,000 and well under $100 are not realistic. These prices are here only because of the glut of foreclosures currently here. When the foreclosues stop prices will rise. Many of these homes today are being sold for well under replacement cost. See:

http://www.VegasRepos.com

for examples.

Smart buyers realize this and are jumping in again in big numbers.

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