I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! Thank you for taking time out of the biggest shopping day of the year for Black Friday Figures! All information from the GLVAR MLS system. This is exactly what you and our Realtor need to know if you are touring, making offers, or listing property this weekend in the Las Vegas Valley!

Summary:Available units inched up slightly to 11150 units. In a move that was no surprise, the number of bank-owned homes available rose while the number of short sales went down. I would be alarmed by the drop in median prices on non-distressed properties, except that many of those properties were sold as distressed some months ago; they have been rehabbed and are being sold at a premium over the previous sale price. Pending and contingent units slipped a little, but remain well over 14,000. I expected a soft number of closes this week because of the holiday and was pleasantly surprised to see well over 700. Rentals are staying pretty steady both in terms of availability and price, which is good news for investors and renters alike.

Other Information: Wall Street is waiting and watching to see people like you and I are out spending money today. Next week we should start to get information on November economic data, including a rundown of retail sales over the holiday weekend. That information will be chewed over by every economist, politician, journalist, and blogger as some ask whether we need an additional economic stimulus. Of interest to potential buyers, Fannie Mae is trying to tighten up lending standards, which will make it more difficult for some people to be approved for a mortgage, but at least rates are at a record low. If you aren’t sure where you stand, contact a good mortgage broker now (I can give you several people to call, click the Contact Me! link at the side). There seems to be good news coming out of Nevada’s foreclosure mediation program:  not only are foreclosures down 4% (compared with up 19% nationwide), mediators are reporting “good outcomes” as much as 60% of the time. Judges nationwide are continuing to hold banks’ feet to the fire at foreclosure proceedings nationwide.

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By now everyone has heard that existing home sales were up in October, which drove inventory down. Residential investment and the Case-Shiller are up too. Even sales of new homes are up.

Don’t get to thinking this is a trend.

The reason we had so many closings in October is that buyers were trying to get the deal completed before the first time homebuyer’s tax credit was supposed to have expired. Nobody knew when those contracts were signed that the credit would be continued and expanded. I don’t know how much impact that will have going forward, as most qualified first time buyers have already made their move, and one in 5 current homeowners can’t buy because they are underwater on their primary residence.

For a property to sell in October means there was most likely a signed contract in September, if not last August. It won’t be until mid December before we have accurate, national numbers for November property sales (I will continue to post local data every Friday).

So in short, we may still have a bubble problem in some areas of the country.

Hooters Las Vegas is currently in default, and is trying to restructure $147 million in debt.

More on the Cosmopolitan: Deutsche Bank has had to write down a half billion euros — about $748 million — and there is no clear opening date in sight.

I’ve said before that the housing crisis will not be over until the banking crisis is over as well. The two are just too intertwined. Well, banking reforms may be further away than we would like, and the TARP is looking more like a cover-up than a life-preserver every day. In fact, I am more certain than ever that as bad an idea as it is, it would have been a better use of taxpayer money to put up to $100,000 towards every American mortgage than to continue to prop up huge banks that aren’t accountable to anybody. At least paying off people’s mortgages would have changed the fact that we now have record high delinquency rates.

Housing starts — that’s beginning construction of new housing — is at a new low. Permits to build housing are down too. Surprisingly, that’s a good thing if you think we have an oversupply of housing. It of course isn’t very good news at all if you work in construction.

I do have to say that I am very concerned by the disconnect between the economy you and I see on the streets and the economy that Wall Street is apparently enjoying. I can’t see the Wall Street economy continuing forever, nor pulling the rest of the nation up. Let’s face it, most jobs are not created by huge publicly traded corporations, but rather by the small businesses that are having a hard time getting financing right now. And until we have enough jobs, the housing industry will have something less than smooth sailing.

And on a happy note, there is a movement to create a new national park in the Northwest part of town. An area called the Upper Las Vegas Wash is home to many fossils.

Deutsche Bank, who foreclosed on the Cosmopolitan project last year, is offering to refund up to 74% of the deposit money that would-be buyers put up. However, a lawsuit by those buyers has been filed:

Cosmopolitan’s developers also misled apartment buyers about completion delays, added units, insufficient parking and changes to the builder contract, according to an amended complaint filed in Nevada. The garage and “underground facilities are under the existing water table, requiring 24-hour pumps and containment walls,” it alleges.

It’s easy to forget that Las Vegas became a stopping place in the desert because of underground springs. Apparently that’s exactly what the developers did.

Two little news bits for you.

First, the Senate has attached an extension of the $8000 first time buyers tax credit to a bill extending unemployment aid and passed it unanimously (some restrictions apply, of course). The House of Representatives still has to vote on such a proposal, but a compromise is already in the works and it seems likely they will go along. Update: A bill has passed and will likely soon be signed into law. I know I should be really happy about this, but I have reservations. First, how many qualified first time buyers are left? Second, by continually extending the credit, urgency is lost. Buyers are left wondering if Congress won’t pass a better deal next year! Finally, assuming that urgency is not lost, it adds froth to the market. We have roughly 15,000 pending sales in the Las Vegas Valley; you can’t tell me that’s a normal level.

The second item is undeniably good news here. Clark County wants to raise the fines for not keeping property in good condition. Currently, the fine is $50-200 per day and a maximum of $10,000. They want to raise it to $1000 per day for a maximum of 2 years.  We aren’t talking about mowing the lawn and stuff like that. We’re talking about truly neglectful property owners who allow their properties to become dumping grounds or unsafe places. While some say this is likely to be used against the elderly and the infirm, it will most likely be used against banks who allow foreclosed property to fall into ruin. If you have an opinion that you want heard on this matter, a vote is scheduled for November 17, 2009.

Interesting side note on our County Commission: one of our commissioners won’t be seeking re-election because he is running for Governor next year. His name is Rory Reid. Yes, he’s Senator Harry Reid‘s son.

Hope everyone is planning on dropping by again for Friday Figures! Those who do will be rewarded with knowing more about the Vegas real estate market than most people.