Bank Owned Properties Play Big Role in Nevada Housing Market

Nearly 80 percent of the total home sales in Las Vegas, Nevada were bank owned properties. Industry experts noted that the figures are declining but still, bank repossessed properties play a significant role in the housing market in Las Vegas.

Last month, there were about 3,358 properties sold in Las Vegas, representing a 4 percent rise from the previous month and an increase of 20.7 percent compared with the same period the previous year.

For single-family houses, the median sale price was $138,000, an increase of $2,500 or 1.8 percent. However, the median sales price was still lower by 29.2 percent compared with last year. Prices of townhouses and condominiums dropped by $500 to $65,720 from August.

Meanwhile, home inventory dropped to 20,801 or 0.9 percent last month. The inventory declined by less than a 90-day supply, with about 7,909 houses on the market without any offer.

According to industry experts, there are two types of buyers who are driving property sales in the area. They are the first-time buyers who are rushing to complete a deal before the deadline for the $8,000 federal tax credit and investors loaded with cash who are grabbing bank owned properties at the low-end priced spectrum.

Experts said that investors who played a role on the continuing decline of home prices in Las Vegas accounted for 44 percent of the total monthly sales in the area. They said that the declining number of bank owned properties in the area may be due to the decision of banks to hold off releasing more repossessed homes on the market or the workout plan of the federal government.

They are hoping that the decline means that the loan modification program is working out as expected to show to distressed homeowners that fighting to save their houses from foreclosure is not a vain effort after all.

Meanwhile, industry experts noted that the flood of foreclosures they have anticipated to occur in Las Vegas has not happened. In August, the number of completed foreclosures declined to 1,944 compared with July, representing two consecutive months of decline.

Furthermore, the number of foreclosure dispositions surpassed the acquisition rate for six consecutive months.

On the other hand, many banks have a growing inventory of repossessed properties but they are holding off releasing them on the market. Industry experts said that it will be early next year that the market will start to be flooded with bank owned properties.

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