Today we have more information on the bridge being built parallel to the Hoover Dam. It’s a 1900 foot span, 900 ft above the river. Although you’ll be able to see the bridge from the Dam, only pedestrians will be able to see the Dam from the bridge. Also, traffic patterns to will be different once the bridge opens, so be alert to changes if you’ve traveled this way before.
If you are excited to read that headline, you aren’t going to like what follows.
For the rest of you, let me back up and briefly explain what “hard money” is all about. In short, hard money is a loan it would be “hard” to get anyplace else. According to eHow, “A hard money lender is a person or institution that offers loans, usually for real estate, with low credit restrictions but high rates and fees. Hard money lenders are often considered borrowers of last resort for those who are facing foreclosures or needing loans under abnormal conditions. Due to the high prices associated with hard money lenders, they are generally not a borrower’s first choice.” Wikipedia has much more on the topic.
The Las Vegas Review Journal reports that hard money lenders are in trouble here in Nevada. They’ve been stung so hard by foreclosures that they in essence want ways around state law and state regulations. Specifically, they want the right to manage real estate without either a real estate license and the additional real estate management permit required by law (NRS 118A), and they want to over-ride a privacy law prohibiting investors from having the contact information of other investors in a given project.
While I think it is probably a good idea for investors in one project to be able to communicate with one another, I think it would be a bad idea to let these investors (particularly out-of-state investors) manage property without a license. A good property manager not only knows the law and collects the rent, she or her staff is available to handle emergencies (NRS 118A.260), her actions prevent damage or degradation of the property, and in many cases she can even add value to a property through practices that maintain a high occupancy rate. This is good both for tenants and the investors. It’s even good for the neighbors.
Sure, it will cost some money to do the job right and follow the laws that were enacted to protect all Nevadans. That’s the cost of doing business.
I’m so glad you stopped by for Friday Figures! All information from the GLVAR MLS system. Make no mistake, this is what you and your Realtor need to know before touring, making an offer, or listing a home in the Las Vegas Valley this weekend.
Summary: Available listings are rock-steady at 11025, although the percentage of short sales is slightly up. Contingent and pending sales are up slightly too. Closings are returning to a level we saw in most of 2009. Prices appear to be fairly solid — a trend I hope continues.
Other Information: The fact that our local number of listings is stable is even better when you consider that nationwide, the number of listings grew in January. Nationwide, we are also experiencing a decline in the percentage of families that own a home and a mortgage delinquency rate that has reached 10%. Locally, we have a rising rate of short sales (still not getting them approved fast enough, but it’s progress), declining apartment rent prices (rental homes and condos have pretty much remained stable since I’ve been tracking the data), and a loss of 15,000 jobs. Just for fun, here’s a look at the CityCenter project.
Available Listings: There are 9096 single family homes (down), with a median price of $172,900 (down), $88 per square foot (unchanged), with median time on market of 89 days (down). In addition, there are 1931 condominiums and townhomes (down), with a median price of $80,000 (unchanged), $70 per square foot (down), and median time on market of 80 days (down). At the beginning of last month we had 8868 single family homes with a median price of $172,500 and 1950 condominiums and townhomes with a median price of $82,250.
Distressed Properties: Of available listings, there are 4975 short sales (up) and 1875 bank-owned properties (down). Median price for a short sale is $129,500 (up); median price on a bank-owned home is $129,900 (unchanged). Short sale listings, whether available or contingent, must be considered at risk of becoming bank owned properties. The 4154 non-distressed properties for sale (up) had a median price of $245,000, down. While many of the non-distressed properties are traditional sellers, many others were purchased less than 6 months ago as short sale or bank owned, and renovated by investors. Last month we had 4568 short sales and 2280 bank-owned properties.
Single Family Home Prices: Of available listings, 145 under $50,000; 1362 between $50,000-$100,000; 4109 between $100,000-$200,000; 2199 between $200,000-$400,000; 675 between $400,000-$700,000; 236 between $700,000-$1,000,000; and 516 over $1,000,000. Last month we had 185 under $50,000; 1358 between $50,000-$100,000; 3910 between $100,000-$200,000; 2112 between $200,000-$400,000; 676 between $400,000-$700,000; 236 between $700,000-$1,000,000; and 533 over $1,000,000.
Condo and Townhome Prices: Of available listings, 379 under $50,000; 907 between $50,000-$100,000; 513 between $100,000-$200,000; 133 between $200,000-$400,000; 27 between $400,000-$700,000; 9 between $700,000-$1,000,000; and 4 over $1,000,000. Last month it was 386 under $50,000; 887 between $50,000-$100,000; 518 between $100,000-$200,000; 141 between $200,000-$400,000; 40 between $400,000-$700,000; 10 between $700,000-$1,000,000; and 12 over $1,000,000.
Contingent and Pending listings: Of the 13802 properties in the process of being purchased (up), 11068 are single family homes with median price of $135,900 (up); 2734 are condominiums or townhomes with median price of $65,000 (unchanged). Final negotiated sales prices are confidential until closing. Of those, 9303 were short sale (up), 3194 were bank owned (up), and 1289 were non-distressed sales (up). At the beginning of January we had 13387 contingent and pending units, 8932 short sale, 3308 bank owned, and 1128 non-distressed sales.
Recently sold: 777 properties closed in the last week, 3292 in the last 30 days, and 3569 so far this year. For properties closed in the last 30 days, median time on market was 29 days (up, time on market including the contingent period was 98 days). Median sales price was $120,000 (down); median list price was $119,997 (down). Short sales accounted for 709 of them, there were 1910 bank owned properties, and 670 non-distressed sales. Last month median sales price was $124,000; median list price was $120,000.
Rentals: 5051 homes, townhomes, and condos were available for rent in the Valley in the MLS system. Median square footage of these units is 1368 and median rent is $1095. There are 712 contingent leases waiting to be signed and 1915 leases signed in the last 30 days.
Need more information or help with your real estate needs? Call me today at 702-727-7842 or email bmagnus@bridgetmagnus.com. Although this information is available to all GLVAR members through the MLS system, this article was written and copyright by Bridget Magnus, and is her sole property.
When I have new clients come from out-of-town, one of the things they always ask about is the schools. What are the “best” school districts? Are any of them in financial trouble?
As a matter of state law, Nevada’s school districts are organized by county. There’s only one school district for each of our 17 counties. So there isn’t a Henderson school district, a North Las Vegas school district, a Paradise or Winchester or Sunrise Manor school district — it’s all just part of Clark County School District from Primm to Blue Diamond to Mount Charleston. This means that small towns and the rural areas around them don’t have to worry about coming up with the money for their own school districts, and it eliminates some of the problems of “poor” and “rich” schools. It also means that CCSD is the 5th largest school district in the nation, with all the benefits and problems of being a large school district.
Many people still ask what the best schools are. Unfortunately, I can’t answer that question. What is a good school? Every family has a different answer: some want strong academics, others want a variety of electives and extra-curriculars, some want a high graduation rate (which sadly we do not have), others want a top-notch athletic program. Even if I could read minds and pair families with the “perfect” school, there is the risk that the district will re-draw the attendance boundaries next year. I always encourage parents to do their own research both at the CCSD site and at sites like GreatSchools or SchooGo.com.
One thing CCSD does have is some very well regarded magnet schools. Any student can apply (this year’s deadline is February 8), and admissions are competitive. Three of our magnet high schools are US News and World Report Silver Medalists, and 2 more are Bronze Medalists. Application deadline this year is February 8.
Once again it’s time for Friday Figures! All information from the GLVAR MLS system. It’s critical market data you and your Realtor need to know before touring, making an offer, or listing a home in the Las Vegas Valley this weekend.
Summary: At the risk of sounding boring, available units remain just over 11,000. All things considered, that is really good news. We have fewer than 2000 bank owned homes in the MLS (our MLS does require bank owned listings to be noted as such, unlike some area MLS systems), which is great considering what you’ll read in the next paragraph! Contingent and pending units continue to trend slightly upwards, which hopefully means more closes in the future. The it is still worrisome that over 9000 of those listings are short sales — how many will actually close is anyone’s guess. The number of closed sales this week climbed over 700 for the first time this year, which is more good news.
Other Information: Wow is there a lot of negative news out there this week! Vegas was ranked highest in foreclosures for 2009 with 1 in 8 homes having some sort of filing (this figure includes all foreclosures from Notice of Default to Bank Owned). This certainly contributes to the fact that we have the most undervalued housing market in the country. New home and existing home sales were down substantially in December nationwide, and my readers know that actual closings have been down locally in January. Let’s close with something relatively happy: what not to eat in Vegas.
When you see someone write something like this, you start to worry about our real estate market:
Las Vegas foreclosures are expected to rise further this year with the planned release into the Nevada market of about 6,000 foreclosure homes by Bank of America over the next several months. According to a BofA executive, the foreclosures could be released at about 500 units a month.
The properties make up part of the so-called shadow inventory held by banks while they negotiate short sales or loan modifications with borrowers or while they wait for more favorable pricing trends.
But let’s look at that more closely. An additional 500 available units per month isn’t a big deal when average time on market is low, as we currently have. Whether Bank of America actually has 6000 foreclosed homes to put on the market is another issue. I suspect that at least half of those are currently already available as short sales; changing the status from short sale to REO does not change the amount of available inventory. More interestingly, this means they are admitting that a lot of short sale applications will be declined.
But here’s where they go astray, and why I know they are wrong:
Concord [Group of California] said that currently, Las Vegas has a supply of 16,215 residential units for sale, 8,845 units of which are bank-owned homes, HUD homes and other types of foreclosures.
It’s been a long time since we had 16,000 available units, let alone 8800 bank owned homes available. Regular readers know that last Friday we had just over 11,000 available units, only 2100 of which were bank owned. You can’t even explain the 16,000 figure they used by adding in contingent sales or short sales. We haven’t had that many available units since February of last year, and even then we didn’t have 8800 bank owned units!
Once more, you can’t believe everything you read about “shadow inventory” and how terrible the real estate market is in Vegas.
Thanks for dropping by to read Friday Figures! All information from the GLVAR MLS system. Here is what you and your Realtor need to know before touring, making an offer, or listing a home in the Las Vegas Valley this weekend.
Summary: Available units remain over 11,000, a nice stable sign. It is encouraging to see that the number of non-distressed sales is rising and the number of bank-owned properties is declining, even if the market is still dominated by distressed sales. I am concerned by the sudden jump in availability for condos priced under $50,000. Hopefully this is just a blip rather than a trend. Speaking of trends, contingent and pending listings rose again this week to about 13,500. Not surprisingly, the number of contingent short sales is also up; in order to return to a normal market, these short sales must be worked through one way or the other.
Other Information: The one biggest thing you should remember if you are out looking at property this weekend is that this week we have had a lot of rain! Please drive carefully, and be on the lookout for flooding. In some high elevation parts of Summerlin and Anthem, there may have been snow. Take this opportunity to inspect properties for signs of roof leaks or other water damage. A few local interest real estate items, few taking advantage of foreclosure mediation (and that is a shame), City Center’s anti-flip clause, and one analyst expects housing prices to remain around this level for a while. As for issues that will effect the housing market nationwide, banks accused of short sale fraud, why there will be another surge of foreclosures unless something drastic is done, why write-down on mortgage balances may yet have to happen, an item on the commercial market, and what Fair Housing Law means to you.
Maybe you didn’t know that you can’t use an FHA loan to purchase a property that has been owned by the seller for less than 90 days. Or at least, that’s the rule until February 1.
The purpose of this rule is to prevent “flipping,” buying a property and then immediately turning around and selling it for more money, pocketing thousands of dollars in a couple of months with little actual work on the property itself. Of course, the market downturn put a stop to most of that but the rule remains.
There is one huge loophole already in this rule. It doesn’t apply to sellers who are stare or federally chartered banks, and it doesn’t apply to HUD itself. So you can (theoretically) use an FHA mortgage to buy a newly foreclosed home from Wells Fargo or Nevada State Bank, but not Vinnie’s Pawn and Loan or Joe’s Mortgage Company. So will suspending this rule do what HUD says it will, “speed the resale of foreclosed properties“? Maybe.
There is another class of investor who sometimes gets hamstrung by the 90 day rule: investors who buy cheap, highly distressed properties. They quickly do the necessary repairs, paint and renovate, and sell the property for a profit. These investors are a necessary part of the foreclosure food chain, because they make homes out of properties that most buyers would never consider. Joe and Jane Average are not experts in repairing such properties, but these investors are. The temporary change to the HUD rule — and if successful, expect it to be extended — should make it easier for trashed out foreclosures to become owner occupied homes.
Welcome (or welcome back) to Friday Figures! All information from the GLVAR MLS system. This is the state of the local real estate market right now, and what you and your Realtor need to know before touring, making an offer, or listing a home in the Las Vegas Valley this weekend.
Summary: Available units are barely over 11,000 again. Notably, the supply of available condominiums and townhomes has dropped by a third in the last 6 months. The number of contingent and pending listings has stopped falling, insuring more closings in the future. The number of contingent short sales is still a concern, as many of these will not receive bank approval to move forward. Closings are solid, but a little lighter than levels we got used to before the end of the year.
Other Information: Here’s a great item on condo overbuilding. Of course it’s easy for everyone to see in hindsight, but local developers knew certain projects were doomed from the beginning. Of course 2009 Vegas property sales are up 36.9% from 2008, but we aren’t out of the woods yet. Nevada still has the top foreclosure rate at 10.17% (that includes everything from Notice of Default through bank owned and for sale) and bankruptcies are up by over 50%. While some temporary modifications are becoming permanent, some experts expect another wave of foreclosures after temporary modifications fail. Just in this morning’s news, we have found that HUD has denied a request for $367 million in stimulus funds for Southern Nevada’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program. While things are steady for now, there is the potential for storms to come.
Welcome to Friday Figures! All information from the GLVAR MLS system. Touring, making offers, or listing property in the Las Vegas Valley this weekend? Read this first!
Summary: Available listings remain solid, just under 11,000. The gap in price between short sale and bank owned properties has been getting smaller for some time, but this week there is no difference in median price. Are banks charging a premium for the “convenience” of no short sale, or are short sellers desperate to compete with low bank pricing? We had light closings in the last week, partly due to the New Years holiday and partly due to a rush from institutional sellers to get property off the books before the end of the year.
Other Information: I’m having a hard time getting worked up about the declining number of pending listings except for the fact that so many of them are short sales locally. Unfortunately, when it comes to moving these homes into “sold” status, we are being held hostage by the banks that hold the mortgages. I am far more concerned going forward with the high unemployment rate (jobless people obviously have trouble buying homes or paying mortgages) and an optimistically predicted 3 million foreclosures in 2010.