Dec 11
23
Friday Figures for 12/23/2011
‘Twas the day before Christmas Eve, and Bridget Magnus was busy doing the Friday Figures! All information from the GLVAR MLS system. It’s what you and your REALTOR really should know before touring, making an offer, or preparing a listing in the Las Vegas Valley this weekend. Normally I would talk about the figures live on Getting REAL (Estate) in Vegas on the Vegas Video Network live every Friday at 2:00 PM, but the show is taking a break for the holidays. We will be back on the air Friday, January 6, 2012. Happy Holidays, no matter which ones you celebrate!
Summary: Our count of available units continues to slide, now at 11659! Remember, I’m expecting a mini-surge about a week and a half from now, beginning January 3. Why the third? Because many broker’s offices will be closed the second, and a listing agreement requires the broker’s signature. The supply of foreclosed properties is still going to be limited until banks figure out how they want to deal with some of Nevada’s new laws. The end result may be more short sales. But one more spot of good cheer, median price on foreclosed homes is up 7% from the lows we hit over the summer! The number of properties under contract dropped just below 13,000 again, but I am not worried. The mad dash to close before the end of the year has begun. The number of short sales closing remains strong — a good sign for the future. As usual for this time of year, the short work weeks mean title/escrow offices are beyond busy; cut them some slack if you need to talk to them.
The News: The Ghost of Real Estate Future suggests it’s that time of year that people start to get out the “crystal ball” and talk about what’s going to happen in the year ahead. It could give you a headache to try and follow it all. Meanwhile, the Ghost of Real Estate Past tells us that things were 14.3% worse than we thought in the last few years. The Ghost of Real Estate Present says sales are up 10% from last year and mortgage rates are at yet another all time low. Meeerrrryyyy Christmas!!
In foreclosure fraud news, Nevada has filed suit against Lender Processing Services (LPS). What do you call putting someone in prison for 600 counts of mortgage fraud? In this case, a good start. Meanwhile the SEC has brought charges against some executives at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Posted in Las Vegas Real Estate by .
Dec 11
19
Occupy Our Homes? Off the Rails
With bonus discussion of that big NAR existing home sales adjustment.
Posted in General Real Estate by .
Dec 11
16
Friday Figures for 12/16/2011
Almost done with Christmas shopping? I hope so, because it’s time for Friday Figures! All information from the GLVAR MLS system. Here’s what you and your REALTOR need to know before touring, making an offer, or preparing a listing in the Las Vegas Valley this weekend. Be sure to tune in and see me talk about the figures live on Getting REAL (Estate) in Vegas on the Vegas Video Network live today and every Friday at 2:00 PM. Today we talk about the NAR’s upcoming home sales revisions and Occupy Our Homes.
Summary: According to our MLS system, we’ve broken under 12,000 listings! There are only 11851 available properties. A year ago we had 16417. Remember that this low level might be partly seasonal, as non-institutional sellers (“normal people”) don’t really want their holidays interrupted by showings! Banks also want to avoid the bad publicity of foreclosing and evicting someone right before the holidays (how Grinch-like!), so the number of bank owned properties may rise after the first. One interesting thing is that list prices are very close to where they were last year — a great sign considering how far they’ve fallen. There are also signs that short sales are being processed more quickly, even if banks aren’t exactly following Nevada’s 90 day rule.
The News: There are some signs that we are recovering from the foreclosure mess nationwide, but that doesn’t mean all will be sunshine and roses. Meanwhile, it looks like a foreclosure fraud settlement that lets banks get away with fraud is likely to be made by Christmas. At least one Senator thinks that’s a bad idea.
Mortgage rates have hit yet another all time low, now at 3.94%. That’s just crazy.
The NAR will be revising it’s existing home sales figures for the last 5 years. I’ll be talking about how they managed to overcount by roughly 13% on today’s show.
Posted in Las Vegas Real Estate by .
Posted in Las Vegas Real Estate by .
Dec 11
9
Friday Figures for 12/9/2011
I’m back and ready to go! Welcome to Friday Figures! All information from the GLVAR MLS system. It’s what you and your REALTOR need to know before touring, making an offer, or preparing a listing in the Las Vegas Valley this weekend. Be sure to tune in and see me talk about the figures live on Getting REAL (Estate) in Vegas on the Vegas Video Network live today and every Friday at 2:00 PM. Today we talk about Vegas’s new foreclosure ordinance, stupid Realtor tricks that could prevent people from buying your home, and a very special What Were They Thinking.
Summary: We now only have 12120 available properties in our MLS. Expect more classic and short sale listings after the first of the year, as people finish the holidays and face reality about the need to sell their homes. Surprisingly, the number of properties under contract is also down — a sign that these listings are closing rather than falling out of contract and becoming available again.
The News: California and Nevada are continuing to fight for a proper investigation of foreclosure fraud — despite the mysterious death of at least one witness — putting a nationwide foreclosure fraud settlement at risk (good, put a stake through the chest of that settlement, because it sucks!).
There’s been a lot of speculation this week about whether the nationwide market has bottomed or not. The opinions? Probably, but we aren’t out of the woods yet and it may well take half a decade to actually recover.
This week, the Las Vegas City Council approved a strict foreclosure ordinance. The purpose is to force banks to take care of foreclosed properties and not let them fall into disrepair. I will be talking about this proposal on the show today, so don’t forget to tune in.
And finally, I am an agent at a Prudential Real Estate and Relocation Services branch. Earlier this week, PRERS was sold by Prudential Financial Services to Brookfield Residential Services. Brookfield will continue to license the Prudential name. This should not effect my business in any meaningful way.
Posted in Las Vegas Real Estate by .
Nov 11
28
Just a couple tidbits…
Love Christmas decorations? I bet you don’t love them as much as this couple does!
Not sure what to do this weekend? Let The Weekend Map help you out! This one is going into the sidebar.
Nov 11
25
Black Friday Figures
Whew! It’s nuts out there. Thanks for taking time away from the stores to check out the Friday Figures! All information from the GLVAR MLS system. It’s what you and your REALTOR need to know before touring, making an offer, or preparing a listing in the Las Vegas Valley this weekend. Normally I talk about the figures live on Getting REAL (Estate) in Vegas on the Vegas Video Network every Friday at 2:00 PM, but we will be taking this week and next week off.
Summary: Available units continues to drop, now at 12582. Expect a spike after the first of the year, since many sellers don’t want to have their holidays disrupted by potential buyers. It’s very encouraging that availables are down since the number of available foreclosures and classic listings are both up! Obviously, this means we have fewer short sales this week. There are also fewer short sales under contract. Closings were very strong, considering the short work week.
The News: One of the big news items you won’t hear too much about is that PMI has filed for bankruptcy. PMI is the largest provider of private mortgage insurance — the stuff that is supposed to pay the bank if a a borrower defaults and the lender has to foreclose. Speaking of foreclosures, it looks like there might be a 49 state deal that excludes California. That is, unless New York, Delaware, and Nevada decide they have enough evidence to really tackle the fraud that banks did.
If you love charts and figures, go check out this great post over at The Mess That Greenspan Made!
Mortgage rates are down yet again, this time to an absolutely amazing 3.98%. I will be shocked if rates are this low a year from now. Maybe that’s why existing home sales are up.
Posted in Las Vegas Real Estate by .
Posted in General Real Estate by .
Nov 11
18
Friday Figures for 11/18/2011
It’s time for Friday Figures! All information from the GLVAR MLS system. Here’s the real deal, information you and your REALTOR need to know before touring, making an offer, or preparing a listing in the Las Vegas Valley this weekend. Join me as I talk about the figures live on Getting REAL (Estate) in Vegas on the Vegas Video Network today and every Friday at 2:00 PM! Be sure to join us!
Summary: The number of available properties dropped again, this time to 12645. That’s a change from 16474 last year. There were major declines in the number of distressed properties for sale over the last year, and a more modest change in the number of non-distressed listings. While there’s not much seasonality for foreclosures, “smart money” short sellers and traditional sellers have their homes on the market now, through the holidays. They know that only serious buyers are out before year end! There is a small divergence in median prices of available vs. contingent/pending single family homes, probably due to bargain hunters.
The News: You read that item I posted earlier about 2 people being indicted on 606 counts of mortgage fraud right here in Nevada, right? I can’t believe that’s not all over the Review-Journal’s online edition!
The HARP changes announced a few weeks ago now have guidelines to go with them. Underwater and need to refinance? This might help you. Speaking of refinancing, Freddie Mac has made the startling discovery that most people who are refinancing — at record low interest rates, I might add — are choosing fixed rate mortgages! I guess they are surprised that people are using common sense.
Remember that just 6 weeks ago, new lower FHA limits came out? Now Congress has passed a bill allowing those limits to be raised again. There’s no word yet on whether there will really be any change here in Clark County. I stand by what I said on air: we have a lot of houses available for less than $287,500, and if you can really afford a $300,000 home you can surely afford to put down more than 3.5%.
And just one more local item: 10 of the strangest shops in Vegas. Ready for Christmas shopping season yet?
Posted in Las Vegas Real Estate by .
Have no fear, the Friday Figures will be up later. I didn’t want this important story to get buried! There’s actually an indictment against 2 bankers for mortgage fraud in Nevada! It’s over 600 counts, alleging robo-signing on a massive scale. Most experts agree that the goal is to get these two employees to turn on their employer and admit they were ordered to make sure this fraud happened. That employer, LPS, is not actually a “bank” but rather a “processing service” that works for the banks.
What isn’t being said is that, if LPS’s purpose is to create fraudulent documents for the banks — and Dylan Rattigan points out that if the banks had the necessary documents, they wouldn’t need to forge new ones — that makes them a corrupt criminal organization under RICO. It could be very interesting to see what unravels as a result of this case.
Posted in Mortgage and Financing Nevada by .
