Fernley, NV

The economic downturn of the last 12-18 months has left many businesses and homeowners struggling to stay afloat. For those with real estate holdings, home sales have largely slumped across the United States, where an abundance of unsold properties continue to dot the landscape.

The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 established a tax credit for first-time homebuyers that can be worth up to $7,500, in an effort to revitalize the housing market.

The tax credit has since been increased and extended through The Worker, Homeownership and Business Assistance Act of 2009, signed into law on November 6, 2009. The Act extends and expands the tax credit allowed by previous acts.

The new Act extends the deadline for qualifying home purchases from Nov. 30, 2009 to April 30, 2010. Additionally, if a buyer enters into a binding contract by April 30, the buyer has until June 30 to settle on the purchase.

The maximum credit amount remains at $8,000 for a first-time homebuyer, that is, a buyer who has not owned a primary residence during the three years up to the date of purchase.

The Act also extends to homeowners who have been in a primary residence for five years or more and are looking to purchase a different primary residence. This is a "long-time resident" credit of up to $6,500. To qualify this way, a buyer must have owned and used the same home as a principal or primary residence for at least five consecutive years of the eight year period ending the date of purchase of a new home as a primary residence.

The new law also raises the income limits for people who purchase homes after November 6, 2009. the full credit will be available to taxpayers with modified adjusted gross incomes (MAGI) up to $125,000 or $225,000 for joint filers. Those with MAGI between $125,000 and $145,000 or $225,000 and $245,000 for joint filers, are eligible for a reduced credit. Those with higher incomes do not qualify.

For those who have been on the fence about purchasing a home, these tax credits could be the incentive needed. Buyers with qualifying purchases in 2010 have the option of claiming the credit on either their 2009 or 2010 tax returns.

The residential housing market has been strong since early summer. Typically sales slow down during the holidays. and we are seeing a decrease in month-over-month sales, but the numbers continue to show a strong year-over-year increase in sales volume. Median sales prices slightly dropped continuing the flat pricing trend that we have seen over the past six months. We anticipate steady sales moving through the holidays and into the first quarter of 2010, with buyers responding to the extension and expansion of the home buyer tax credit and exceptionally affordable interest rates.

SALES: November ended the month with 49 sold transactions as compared to 62 for October, a 21% decrease over the previous month and an 88% increase over the same period last year (2008).

SALES MIX: Bank ownedunit sales remained steady with November at 26 compared to 26 in October. Bank owned sales represent 53% of the sales, up from 41% reported in October. Short sales increased to 14 in November up from 12 in October, 29% of the mix in November as compared to 19% in October. No Special Condition (None) sales decreased in November to 7 as compared to 18 in October. Sales reported as "No Special Condition" represented 14% of the sales, as compared to 28% reported in October.

MEDIAN PRICE: The median price in November 2007 was $209,900, November 2008 was $151,750 (-28% change) and November 2009 $90,000 (-41% change). November 2009 median price decreased to $90,000 a 22% decrease compared to October 2009.

LISTINGS: 59 new listings were taken in November compared to 70 in October, a 16% decrease. The percentage of "Distressed" new listings increased to 64%, up 2% from October. The number of Bank Owned listings continues to decline from is its high of 38 in June to 20 in November.

MONTHS SUPPLY OF INVENTORY: As of November 30, 2009, Fernley increased to 5.2 months of inventory based on a 90-day sales rate. This is the ninth month in 2009 Fernley's Months Supply of Inventory has been below what is describes as a balanced market, the Months Supply of Inventory (MSI) returned to balanced. The National Association of REALTORS describes a balanced market as between 5 and 7 months supply.

CONCLUSIONS:

• November closings were down from October but volume remains at 2005 levels.
• The median price dropped 22%. Of the reported 49 sales, 28 (43%) had a reported sold price under $100,000.
• Short Sale and Bank Owned closings increased as a percentage of the total market mix, and Special Conditions None decreased over the prior month.
• The median home price is in line with the median household income in recent months for the first time since 2002.

REMEMBER:

• First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit of up to $8000 is extended until April 30, 2010
• Expanded tax credit to grant up to $6500 credit to current home owners purchasing a new or existing home between November 7, 2009 and April 30, 2010.
• HUD issued Mortgagee Letter #09-52 states Borrowers are not eligible for a new FHA mortgage if they pursued a short sale agreement on his or her principal residence to: a) take advantage of declining market conditions, and (b) purchase, at a reduced price, a similar or superior property within a reasonable commuting distance.

Content taken from Reno/Sparks Association of Realtors report.

Mike Glass, Lyon County Assessor said that "after major reductions in assessed valuation figures last year on property in Lyon County, there will be more of the same for next year"

Mr. Glass presented the Lyon County Commissioners with information from single family residence sales through June 30, 2009, and value factors that would be used in determining the assessed valuations of land for fiscal year 2010-11.

The lower assessed valuation figures don't result in property tax bill reductions in that same amount as the state's growth cap on assessed values of 3 percent (residential) and 8 percent (commercial and multi-residential) has capped property tax increases in prior years when the assessed valuation based on land values was skyrocketing during the real estate boom years. But it might be balancing out now.

Last year in most cases the assessed valuation figures were reduced, which was a high as 50 percent in Fernley.

Glass said his office was concluding the valuations for 2010-11 that would be used for the tax bills that go out next July. He explained the parameters they use for land values is to appraise land as if it were vacant, based on other comparable real estate sales, and then to add improvements to the land.

Glass said the biggest impact will again occur in Fernley, noting of 683 single family residential properties sold, 258 were to private buyers and 425 went through foreclosure, which generally have lower sales prices. As a result, he said there would be 40 percent reductions in the valuations, with that area having an improvement factor of 0.60 and land factors also of 0.60.

He said typically they would ignor foreclosure sales in determining land values, as they aren't accurate of true sale values, but there were too many in that prior year to ignore as they dominated the market. Exact figures for valuations are not known yet, but they should be established by December 18th.

If you have any questions or need more information, please contact Lyon County Assessor's office at 775-463-6524

December 5th was a cold winter night but that didn't stop the people from bundling up and going on the tour.

The first house was the "Art House" and featured some of our finest artists with their designs available for Christmas gift giving. Mary Jean Kelso, an award winning children's author was there with her collection of books.

The 5 homes on the tour were decorated in different themes. Each one served delicious refreshments donated from our sponsors.

At the end, we stopped by City Hall for a look at the decorations and Christmas Tree Festival.

Take a look at the 2009 Fernley Christmas Tour

Visit "Fernley, Nevada" Facebook page to see all the photos. There you find information about the community, events and many photo albums of schools, businesses and shopping etc.

Fernley has shrugged off the high "distressed Property" designation title by the lending industry and just continues to churn out sales.

Majority of the buyers are First Time Buyers and they are getting the deals and the $8000 tax credit.

October's numbers are still keeping pace with the past 7 months:

Total sales of residential homes in Fernley are 60 for the month of October.

The golf course had 5 sales:

Two bank owned both sold for $143,000, 3 short sales sold for $120,000, $143,000 and $132,500

The rest of Fernley had 55 sales:

30 bank owned with an average price of $97,710 and $59 per sqft

9 short sales with an average price $114,9555 and $61 per sqft

16 regular seller with an average price of $131,893 and $78 per sq.ft.

November started off with 257 listings city wide.

The golf course has 38 listing:

6 bank owned average price of $103,750

23 shorts sales average price of $125,169

9 regular seller average price $217,177

Rest of Fernley has 219 listings:

58 bank owned average list price $123,165

118 short sales average list price $110,210

41 regular seller average list price $295,939

1 court ordered and one relocation