Sam wrote on September 29, 2007 01:04 AM: What about Vegas Water shortage? Thats
even a larger concern since vegas is
on a huge dry desert and water wont
last forever. Water gone housing
gone. Last one out shut off the
lights. Could pipe in the ocean.
According to experts their is
about three years and things are
going to get a lot drier.

Joe Friday wrote on September 22, 2007 08:31 PM: Realtors morons delray? Possibly this kind of talk from Dennis Smith would lead one to agree:

"It's not that bad. It's just bad today."

Hate to rain on your parade of BS Dennis but tomorrow won't be any better for several years.

VegasBob wrote on September 20, 2007 07:10 PM: J, J, J my man, take a break you are going to have a stroke! Now listen carefully pinhead, if you bought prior to 2001 your as happy as a chinaman in a laundry. But if you one of the geniuses who bought in the last three years, when then bubba, your in a world of hurt. Prices went nuts base upon pure speculation and totally out of whack from historic ( yes my friend 3% per year appreciation rates). Now with the credit meltdown and hosuing bubble bursting (ala Dot Com...remember that J???not too into your cups to recall?) Any way partner, hold onto your socks because its going to be a very bumpy ride for the next couple years. Dont think so, eh? well then J old boy, go out and buy one of these "great valued" homes for sale, if you can get a loan. Then watch your equity disappear. 18-20 percent decline in my assests is not what I want in an "investment." But hey, J maybe your a financial genius!

Jack Walter wrote on September 20, 2007 07:09 PM: It is my opinion that "to high" home prices have gotten that way due to "easy" lending practices backed up by the secondary mortgage market, not just in NV, but nationwide.
If 1,000's of subprime borrowers couldn't have purchased homes with ARMs, No-Docs & low LTVs, the DEMAND would certainly have been far less and prices would not have spiraled up the % they have.
This is especially pertinent in Las Vegas where in-state and out-of-state home speculators and flippers came to make a "killing". Now many of whose "easy money properties" are sitting in foreclosure and are empty.
Can I sell you Tulips, swampland in Florida, or perhaps a (.com) company??
The only "killing" now is that the "secondary mortgage market" has dried up, some lending institutions have gone out of business, and banks are requiring real credentials and downpayments. Amen!!!!!!

J wrote on September 20, 2007 06:55 PM: It's all IRRELEVANT except to those who want to finance their big fancy new SUVs on HELOCs. It is especially irrelevant to mention a projected 18-percent drop in value. We had 3 percent annual gain for YEARS here, so even an 18 percent drop (when my homes have more than doubled in value) is IRRELEVANT. Grow up, doomsdayers.

willy wrote on September 20, 2007 11:52 AM: If you do the math you find housing in LV isn't that far from being affordable. Average household income was calculated at about $56,000 or $4,667/month. Using safe ratios of 28% towards housing, that indicates payments of $1,307/month. As long as the buyer has 10% down that equates to a home of $240-250k. If the median is $270k, that means there are a large percentage of housing options at $250k since it indicates half the houses on the market sell for less than the median.

There are other issues to deal with, but I just don't buy this argument of lack of affordability being such a huge crimp in the market. Sure there are some jobs in this market which will never support home ownership, but that is always going to be the case. In general though the majority of people in town with jobs can still buy a home, so its time to blame other factors, like the inability of many to save even a modest amount of money for down payments.

DT wrote on September 20, 2007 10:01 AM: Of course the homes are going to come down in price. the reduced documentation programs that fueled the drive upwards in prices are GONE. The only real programs that are left are the Fannie / Freddie GSE guidelines, which require income documentation, asset documentation and debt ratios. Specifically those documentation have limits, and the whole reason that Wall Street boomed was because the programs they briefly offered exceeded or disregarded the GSE's typical requirements. The masses then abused these programs, pushed the prices into the stratosphere, overextended themselves, wall street programs went away, and leaves us with the original and strict GSE guidelines that nobody can qualify for. So without incomes going up, the prices MUST come down to an equilibrium point. Wake up and smell the coffee. The good news is that hopefully Wall Street will not strike back and we can enjoy a housing market that is drastically more affordable for all, including the next generations.

VegasBob wrote on September 20, 2007 09:57 AM: I can just see Dennis Smith curled up in his bathroom in a fetal position, sucking his thumb and repeating over and over "keep it together,keep it together, keep it together!" Hey compadre, The market is in the toilet and if you havent noticed the buying public isnt listening to your BS anymore! You developers and the wideboys down at GLVAR had your run at the expense of fiscal sanity and now the chickens have come home to roost right on your pointy little heads! Oh and that wet stuff you feel from the birds on your head aint rain either!

DarthVader wrote on September 20, 2007 09:23 AM: This article is more attempts by real estate and developer interests to spin the serious housing meltdown in Las Vegas single family homes. Moody's.Com just published most recent projections for Vegas home values and showed minus 18.7% devaluation. The Case Schiller index (which has been dead on the last year) indicates at least another 20% decline form this point. The Fed's recent action is the best indicator of how serious things are. The Fed seeing a looming housing induced recession dropped both rates 50 basis points in an effort to get ahead of this train wreck. Unfortunately all this will do is deflate the dollar and slow, but not stop, the inevitable correction the market must take to bring things back to equilibrium. All things being equal, home prices should be at the 2003-2004 level if you used historic appreciation for Las Vegas housing. At minimum the next two years will see falling prices. Caution in buying would be the watch word. Most sellers who are serious will have dropped their asking prices double digits by this time next year if not before if they want to move their property.

delray wrote on September 20, 2007 08:15 AM: These realtors are morons. Lets pass a law that caps their fees at 1000 dollars. The housing market is going to continue to fall for the next four years. Realtors are barely high school graduates that take a two day course and handle these large purchases. Cap their fees and their mouths. This is just the tip of the iceberg, the real value of property will not be realized for another four years.

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