January marked a dubious achievement for Las Vegas: The number of homes repossessed topped the number of homes sold.No word yet from the National Association of Realtors and their "it's always a good time to buy real estate" philosophy.
That is a rare statistic, especially in Nevada, where the housing market rode the economic bubble to incredible heights. Now that the bubble has burst, it is painful watching the fallout.
As reported Tuesday in the Las Vegas Sun by Brian Wargo, the number of foreclosures — 2,177 — was more than double the number of homes sold in December. This is only the latest troubling number in the state housing market.
Nevada has led the nation in the number of foreclosures per household for several months. And RealtyTrac, a company that tracks foreclosures, found that in December the Las Vegas Valley led the nation in the number of foreclosures by ZIP code. The company reported that half of the 50 hardest-hit ZIP codes in the nation were in Clark County.
This is the unfortunate result of the feeding frenzy among investors wanting to make a quick profit in the booming market and lenders’ excessive use of subprime mortgages, which proliferated with lax regulatory oversight.
The silver lining in this mess, if there is one, is that the housing market may come back to reality. Part of the dream for many people moving to Las Vegas was that they could afford to live here, buy a house and have a good quality of life, but hyperinflated housing prices put that dream out of reach for many.
Friday, February 22, 2008
Las Vegas Housing Numbers:homes repossessed topped the number of homes sold
Las Vegas Sun reports:
