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Real Estate has had quite a roller coaster ride this past decade in Las Vegas.

The latest info for the ups and downs of the market indicates that the market will be ticking upward.

The inventory in Jan. has gone down 10% to a 7 day supply or 3300 SFR's.

This low has not been seen since the historical lows of 2004 which lead to a 50% increase in prices

across the board that took place 2005; That, plus very poor lending practices, lead to the bubble and crash of 2008.

Las Vegas is poised to have another increase in home values this summer.

How will 2013 price increase be different from 2005?

Today buyers are coming into Las Vegas with cash, 60%+ of the deals that are currently closing are with cash buyers.

We are again seeing multiple bidding battles between buyers. If  Las Vegas does not replenish its inventory like what

traditionally happens in Jan. & Feb. then the low supply and high demand will correct the market prices. The big

question is will we have another bubble if the market goes up 30-40%? I surmise that the answer is no. This is based

on the type and the financial strength of todays buyers. For the most part the investors are running cash positive rental

investiments that most of them have paid cash for. This is staunchly different from the 2005 investors who borrowed

most of their funds, had high mortgages and were upside down on their rental. In those cases the investor bailed

on their investment.

Overall prognosis - this is a good time to step up and buy something (if you can).

Phil Scheinman

Realty One

Search www.PhilScheinman.com

Although home prices have not returned to the average of $196,000 like it was last year, it is getting close. When comparing home prices at different tiers, Madison is staying ahead of the rest of the state in all three tiers.  The following charts are from Zillow.  This first chart points out two facts.  First, the average price for a home in Wisconsin in the upper tier is around $232,000.  However, for Madison the price is approximately $295,000.  This points to the continued growth in the Madison area.  Secondly, while the average price in this tier only increased 0.2% for the state of Wisconsin, in Madison the price improved by 1.6% 

May 2012 Could Signal a Turn Around for Housing Market

There is some hope for the real estate market. According to a report published by the Commerce Department the number of homes purchased in May of 2012 was the highest number in over two years. The number of purchases increased from April to May by 7.6%. That number is the best increase since April of 2010 when the tax credit for purchasing a home was still in effect.

Areas of Highest Growth

The places that saw the largest increases were the South and Northeast. The number of homes purchased in the South grew by 12.7% while the growth in the Northeast was 36.7%

Although the total number of sales across the country seems to be off pace from the 700,000 transactions favored by economists, the market is showing other signs of improvement.

Strong Signals from the Market

First and foremost, builders have begun to increase production. More construction is always a positive sign, no matter how small the increase. Second, interest rates for mortgages are still at historically low levels making it easy to afford a home. Third, and this is important too, is the stabilization of home values. Most regions around the country have noticed home values finally holding steady. All of these factors have lead to people buying up existing homes, paving the way to build more properties.

More than Just Statistics

The main reason why economists and financial analysts pay so much attention to new construction comes from their overall economic impact. Building a new home normally produces about three new year-long jobs. It also leads to an increase in taxable revenue by an average of $90,000. Although new homes are only 20% of the entire housing market, the numbers above show how constructions helps the economy thrive.

Supply is Down

At the end of May it was reported that a total of 145,000 new homes were on the market throughout the entire country. Based on current sales numbers the market should go through the existing inventory of new homes in about 4.5 months. Economic experts feel that a 6 month supply of new homes keeps the economy healthy. With a lower than average supply it is possible that home prices could go up simply because demand will be higher.

Prices Already Higher

Speaking in general averages, the price of a home bought in May of 2012 was down ever so slightly from the average price in April. However, when looking at sales from one year ago shows that average prices have gone up by 5.6%.

There are approx 2,169  Las Vegas Foreclosures for sale in the Las Vegas area per the local MLS.

This is for homes without contracts on them.

Foreclosure sales pending and homes with contracts on them are at .... 2,594

401 Foreclosure sales have sold so far this month.

This year approx. 15,400 foreclosures have sold in the Las Vegas area.

There are approx 5,056  Las Vegas Short Sales for sale in the Las Vegas area per the local MLS.

This is for homes without contracts on them.

Short Sale pendings and homes with contracts on them are at .... 7,089

248 short sales have sold so far this month.

This year approx 7,900 short sales have sold in the Las Vegas area

Hello,  Can anyone tell me more about Mainstreet Valuations.  I signed up with them a few months ago, and recently received a couple of BPO orders.  The problem is that both orders were more than 25 miles from my office and they were only paying $20 per order.  Is this thier standard BPO fee?   I can't do BPO's for $20 that is an insult.  Needless to say I turned them down. 

Is anyone doing $20 dollar BPO's for Mainstreet?  I have done property condition reports for other companies for $20  but they don't require comps. and it takes about 5 minutes to complete the form. But to do an entire BPO for $20 dollars seems unreasonable.  Am I missing something?

Thanks for your help.

Credit reports frequently have mistakes. Very often consumers are not aware of these mistakes until they are trying to obtain credit for a large purchase like a home or car.  There is a process for rectifying credit mistakes, but it can take some time.

As more and more short sales are being processed it is only natural that some mistakes are showing up on credit reports, especially since there is no standard way for a credit report to reflect a short sale. The bank may report loan paid as agreed, or loan paid for less than the full amount. Which ever way it is reported it should not say foreclosure. Unfortunately occasionally this will happen, but the fix is easy.  When you sell a home as a short sale you will receive a HUD1 statement. this is a statement that spells out what money came in from the sale and how it was distributed. If a home is foreclosed there is no HUD1 given to the owner.  So, if you have a HUD1 your home was not foreclosed.  You should send the HUD1 to the credit reporting agency along with the statement that since you have a HUD1 you were not foreclosed on. They can then remove the foreclosure from your credit report. 

It is probably a good idea to check your credit report 6 and 12 months after a short sale just to make sure this has not happened.

If you have nay questions about short sales please feel free to contact me.

Marcy Moyer CDPE

Keller Williams Realty

www.marcymoyer.com

marcy@marcymoyer.com

650-619-9285

D.R.E.  01191194

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