Reduced Prices for Bank Owned Las Vegas Real Estate is Moving Inventory

Since the first wave of Las Vegas Foreclosures began hitting the Las Vegas MLS last March, I’ve been keeping track of the numbers on my Las Vegas real estate website. Here is a quick run down (Not always a specific number and covers areas 101 - 606 which includes Henderson and North Las Vegas):

April of 2007 - Aprox. 300
May of 2007 - 589
June of 2007 - 825
July of 2007 - 965
Sept of 2007 - Aprox. 1,400
Nov of 2007 - 2018
Dec of 2007 - Aprox. 2,100
Jan. of 2008 - Aprox. 2,283
February 15th, 2008 - 2,230

These are the numbers for Bank Owned Las Vegas homes as listed on the Greater Las Vegas Association of REALTORS multiple listing service (MLS). Not numbers reported from some foreclosure tracking service or homes in the foreclosure process but Bank Owned Homes ready to buy right now.

At first, The Bank Owned Homes were sitting around on the market and the Las Vegas real estate market was at a stale mate. And then… something started happening as evidenced by the post I wrote about the New Las Vegas Home Builders dropping prices and selling homes. (Hmm.. Imagine that!) 

Obviously, sitting on inventory for new Las Vegas home builders makes zero sense and it makes zero sense for Banks to own empty homes that are not selling either — especially with thousands of Las Vegas homes in the foreclosure process. So, Prices began to drop and it’s precisely the reason why you may have been reading these national media reports in the past month reporting on November numbers, something that Las Vegas REALTORS tracking the market already knew - In November. Prices went down!

Now, according to what we are seeing right now, Las Vegas real estate prices for Bank Owned homes have gone down even further. Below, you can see a list of homes in a gated community in Summerlin and see just how much one bank has dropped the price. (You can also see how long the other Summerlin homes have been on the market.)

The first home on the list is the Bank Owned Property. Obviously, the price in relationship to the other Summerlin homes available for sale is significantly lower. Here is another table showing the price history of this Bank Owned Summerlin Home:

As you can see, it was listed for $565,000 on December 4th and reduced to $370,000 on February 7th. According to the tax records it was purchased for $750,000 in December of 2004 and before that, $340,410 in May of 1999. That’s quite a drop in price and it is one of several examples across the Las Vegas Valley even though this is one of the lowest I’ve seen in relationship to the values and quality of this Summerlin community. (These Summerlin homes rent out in the $2,500 range by the way.)

So, what is the effect of the big Price drops for Bank Owned Las Vegas Real Estate?

The Inventory is selling. Multiple offers are coming in and we just put a bid in on another Las Vegas home that had five other offers on it within two days of it being listed. Here are some statistics that you’ll probably never hear about in the media:

Homes listed as Repos on the MLS currently Available - (Areas 101 - 106) on 2/15/2008 - 2,230
Las Vegas Homes listed as Repos on the MLS in “Contingent” or “Pending” status - 928

Recent stats on Las Vegas Foreclosure Homes sold on the Las Vegas MLS:

November 1st through November 30th - 208 Closings
December 1st through December 31st - 276 Closings
January 1st through January 31st - 359

I don’t think I need to point out that the number of Las Vegas Bank Owned homes that are closing escrow is increasing. The number currently in Contingent or Pending status certainly suggests even higher numbers in the months to come and you can follow my Las Vegas Bank Owned Homes for sale report to keep track of this.

As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to ask. All data is deemed reliable but not guaranteed since it has been provided by a third party source.

You can subscribe to this blog to have these reports conveniently delivered to your e-mail. Rest assured, it’s just as easy to unsubscribe!

Paul Francis, ABR,CRS | Coldwell Banker Premier | Las Vegas Real Estate | 702.592.3058