Stuart Sheinfeld

Las Vegas housing inventory is declining. Investors in Las Vegas & Henderson don’t seem to be going away. Some buyers are facing a daunting task of 30, 50 even 100 offers on bank owned properties, says a local real estate agent Stuart Shienfeld. The public property records show that 45 percent of the Las Vegas buyers in August purchased homes with cash. This has forced most buyers to start putting offers on short sales which can take up to 6 months to close. Short sales in Las Vegas are making up more than 50% of homes on the market; nearly 7,800 short-sale units are under contract, either contingent or pending lending approval.
With so much competition for Las Vegas real estate, new homes are becoming a viable option again. For home buyers that qualify for the $8000 tax credit new homes could be the only option. If a buyer wants to take advantage they need to be under contract within the next 30 days. The tax credit is set to expire on November 31,2009. A $8,000 tax credit is huge when the median existing home price is less than $130,000. The Realtors association has lobbied Sens. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and John Ensign, R-Nev., and U.S. Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., and they have lobbied for an extension of the tax credit in to 2010.
• Current Supply stays at 2.9 months
• REO inventory is DOWN
• Interest rates are averaging 5%-5.50%
• 2 months left to take advantage of the $8000.00 tax credit. Needs to close by 11/31/09
• 5 straight months of 4000+ home sales
• Over 55% of ALL NEW LISTINGS last less than a month on the market
The lack of foreclosure inventory, which is declining in Las Vegas could keep sales low & competition high. People buying in this market could look like geniuses in the next couple years.

For more information on taking advantage of the Las vegas market, contact Stuart Sheinfeld.

May Las Vegas housing data suggests that we possibly reached the bottom of the residential recession in the 2nd quarter of this year. I haven’t seen a home buying frenzy like this since 2004, says Las Vegas real estate agent Stuart Shienfeld.

Foreclosures have dominated the housing market with more than 60 percent of the sales each month being bank-owned properties.

With sales at their highest level since June 2006 the first-time homebuyers and investors snatching up Las Vegas inventory, say realtor Stuart Shienfeld.

There were 5,276 bank-owned single-family homes listed for sale in the valley and of those 2,623 had contingent offers, Smith says. That leaves an inventory of 2,653. About half of those homes don’t have offers.

The downturn in the stock market combined with the growing affordability of purchasing a home has prompted increased interest in using IRAs and 401K’s to help fund the purchase.

The number of resale homes on the market as listed by real estate agents continues to decline. During the past year, the number has dipped 36.7 percent or 8,109 units, lowering the inventory to less than 19,000 homes. The inventory has dropped for 13 consecutive weeks with 6,700 fewer properties listed during that time. The number of vacant homes is just under 7,500, a drop of 49 percent.

The number of foreclosures in May was 1,769, a 26% decrease from last year. This was the third month that foreclosure purchases surpassed the number of new foreclosures coming on the market.

New listings are down 18.1% from April 2009 and the number of units sold, are up 1.8% from last month. The average days on the market for homes are hovering for less than 60 days. That is an average of almost 65%.

There are very few REO homes that are currently available without offers to buy. You really need to move quickly to get your offer in. When you do you should offer you’re highest & best offer, says Stuart Sheinfeld. Some banks will do a multiple offer sheet and some don’t, so I wouldn’t take the chance of losing the property.

The good news is that demand for Las Vegas homes jumped in March, but the bad news is that prices dropped to the lowest level since fall 2001. Bad news for sellers.

In March, 2,980 homes sold, a 30 percent increase over February and 102 percent jump over March 2008, according to the group. Bank sales accounted for three out of every four sales.

In March, $515 million worth of homes sold, a 22 percent increase over February and 14 percent increase over March 2008.

Foreclosures account for roughly 80 percent of homes sales in Las Vegas as investors have returned to the market to snap up deals.

With the high number of foreclosures plus the dropping cost of homes has created a buyer's market with bidding wars especially in homes priced between $100,000 and $250,000. It is not uncommon to see 10,15 or even 20 offers on a single bank owned home.

What this chart shows is that the banks are listing homes at prices to sell. With an $8000.00 tax credit for first time home buyers & interest rates between 4.59%-5.00% just adds rocket fuel the home buying fire.

If the house is upgraded with wood floors, granite counters, new carpet & paint, pool, large lot or gated community, it is receiving multiple offers and off the market in less than 30 DAYS!!!

Contact Stuart Shienfeld to discuss how you can take advantage of this GREAT BUYERS MARKET!!!

The government recently approved a First Time Buyer Tax Credit, up to $8000, that does not require repayment if the borrower resides in and maintains ownership of the property for at least three years. This will help pave the way for the housing market recovery in Las Vegas says, realtor Stuart Shienfeld.

President Barack Obama's plan calls for $75 billion to help up to 4 million at-risk homeowners. Companies that collect mortgages will be paid $1,000 for every interest rate cut to make the payment no more than 38 percent of the borrower's income. The government will split the cost of lowering payments to 31 percent and both lenders and borrowers will be paid $1,000 a year for keeping loans current.

Mortgage Rates Drop Below 5%
Freddie Mac reports a drop in the 30-year fixed mortgage rate to 4.98 percent during the week ended March 19 from 5.03 percent the prior year, marking the lowest rate since 4.96 percent in mid-January.

Experts say rates could fall further in response to the Federal Reserve's announcement that it will add $1.2 trillion to the economy to alleviate the credit crisis.

A total of 6,388 new movers came to Nevada in January. Existing home sales experienced a 72% increase in January over the prior year with 2,737 resales, while new home closings were off 66% at 284. Resale inventory hit its lowest level since September with 20,673 properties listed, or an 8.6 month supply.

Las Vegas home sales more than doubled in February from the same month a year ago, although median home prices continue to sink as foreclosures dominate the market

With bank-owned properties accounting for about 75% of sales, foreclosures are still forcing home prices to fall, Shienfeld says