For such a long time, we've become accustomed to bad news on housing... That I couldn't quite believe my eyes at first when I saw this.
Nevada’s foreclosure rate remains fifth in the nation after big drops in activity compared with last year.
RealtyTrac reports Thursday that Nevada’s September foreclosure rate is down 19 percent from August and down more than 75 percent from the same time last year.
The drop reflects the national foreclosure picture for the month of September. RealtyTrac reports the lowest total number of foreclosure filings nationally since July 2007.
Last October, we were #1 in foreclosures and had more than 3 times as many. While there's still too much pain happening in the housing market here, it's increasingly looking like the market is healing.
So why are we finally seeing some healing now? Much of it has to do with state policies here. AB 149 was a good start in making the big banks take negotiation with distressed homeowners seriously, and further action to require proper documentation before foreclosing on a property has also helped bring down the foreclosure rate.
However, Nevada may have also been helped in the past year by recent federal action that finally seems to be taking hold and providing relief. Yesterday, Salon's Andrew Leonard noted the interesting evolution of housing policy under the Obama Administration, and how it's finally working.
The housing sector is clearly rebounding —home prices are rising, mortgage delinquencies are falling, inventory of unsold houses is shrinking. As a result, consumer confidence is growing and Americans are feeling more comfortable risking their savings on big, economically relevant purchases, like new cars.
A clear case can be made that government policy has played a crucial role in this rebound. There are two parts to the story. First, the Fed’s most recent round of monetary stimulus push —aka quantitative easing —has pushed mortgage interest rates to an absurdly low 3.5 percent, encouraging a wave of new refinancing and new purchase activity.
Second, the White House’s latest, greatest plan to help homeowners, the Home Affordable Refinance Program 2.0, has gained real traction, helping homeowners underwater on their mortgages become eligible to refinance. According to a Bloomberg report, “since the start of 2012, there's been a 65 percent increase in refis for borrowers who owe at least 20 percent more than their homes are worth; HARP now accounts for about a quarter of all refis.”
The Fed’s new determination to pursue monetary stimulus until the unemployment rate falls significantly is at least in part due to Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke’s ability to rally support from Obama’s new appointees to the Federal Reserve. The relative success of HARP 2.0 is a tribute to the administration’s willingness to keep tinkering with policy levers until it found something that worked. In both cases, you can argue that the administration took far too long to exert its will, but this is also clearly a case of better late then never. If you want to understand why the number of Americans who think the country is on the wrong track is finally dropping, the housing rebound offers one of the best explanations, and some portion of responsibility for that goes to the administration.
It's taken a while. And during that period, people were still suffering. But now, we're seeing progress. And it's largely thanks to both and state and federal policies meant to help distressed homeowners find relief and stay in their homes.
Contrary to what Mitt Romney and the "tea party" claimed were foolish attempts to "stop the foreclosure process", it turns out that meaningful policies to stem the crushing tidal wave of foreclosures can actually work when given a chance. Don't believe me? Step out the front door. There aren't as many front doors marred by blue tape and legal notices, and that really is a good thing.
The president’s energy plan, which he introduced in Tuesday night’s State of the Union address, has three core components: the safe and responsible development of oil and gas, the creation of clean-energy jobs in the U.S., and increasing energy efficiency, with a special focus on the industrial sector.
That begins at the UPS facility in Las Vegas. The company, in cooperation with local governments and the South Coast Air Quality Management District, won a $5.6 million cost-share investment through the stimulus bill to purchase a fleet of trucks that could run on liquefied natural gas (LNG is a cleaner-burning fuel than regular gas or diesel) and construct a publicly accessible LNG refueling station — the first of its kind in the country.
The natural gas-fueled corridor allows UPS to move merchandise through more energy-efficient engines from Long Beach, Calif., to Salt Lake City, according to senior White House advisers.
It’s a model the president wants to replicate in other areas of the country as well, primarily by upping the incentives to get the country’s transport vehicles off gasoline.
Natural gas has become a focus of this administration, as well as lawmakers and energy advocates of all political stripes, not only because it burns about 30 percent cleaner than petroleum products, but also because it’s far more plentiful than oil in the United States. And, it’s cheaper.
The president aims to begin raising consumption of natural gas by encouraging companies to invest in trucks that run on natural gas with a tax credit, equivalent to about 50 percent of the cost difference between trucks that have engines that run on natural gas versus the standard diesel engine. Implementing such tax credits, senior White House advisers admitted, would require an act of Congress.
As we discussed on Tuesday, natural gas offers opportunities for cheaper, cleaner, and more domestically sourced fuel. Again, natural gas isn't without its own set of problems. But considering its availability and it not being as dirty as traditional oil or coal, it can be useful as a "transition tool" while we're still finding more ways to use renewables.
And of course, there's the possibility of more job creation out of this. And along with housing, jobs is the other big issue Nevadans want to hear about. We'll have to see how Obama threads it all together in his speech this afternoon.
While the White House tried to avoid predicting how many homeowners would benefit from the revamped refinancing program, the Federal Housing Finance Administration estimated an additional 1 million people would qualify. Moody's Analytics say the figure could be as high as 1.6 million.
Under Obama's proposal, homeowners who are still current on their mortgages would be able to refinance no matter how much their home value has dropped below what they still owe.
"Now, over the past two years, we've already taken some steps to help folks refinance their mortgages," Obama said, listing a series of measures. "But we can do more."
At the same time, Obama acknowledged that his latest proposal will not do all that's not needed to get the housing market back on its feet. "Given the magnitude of the housing bubble, and the huge inventory of unsold homes in places like Nevada, it will take time to solve these challenges," he said.
Is it a panacea? Not quite, since this is an executive order and not Congressional legislation that can assume broader authority. But for being such a limited program, it can still be of significant use here in Nevada.
Under the new program, homeowners who are current on their payments, have government-backed mortgages and who are up to 25 percent underwater will qualify for refinancing to a lower interest rate.
Although the program doesn’t address principal balances, it would make monthly payments more affordable, giving homeowners more money to spend, stimulating the economy.
The new program would also increase the ability of major banks to compete for the refinancing business, eliminate the need for an appraisal in many cases and reduce refinancing fees — all good things for Nevada homeowners, said Nasser Daneshvary, director of the Lied Institute for Real Estate Studies at UNLV.
“This is huge,” Daneshvary said. “If this is implemented, people really can find solutions now.”
Hmmm, I wonder which plan benefits Nevada more... "Don't try and stop the foreclosure process. Let it run its course and hit bottom."? Or real, concrete policy plans to start chipping away at the foreclosure crisis?
Yesterday, I saw perhaps the best LTE (letter to the editor) I've ever encountered here in Nevada. Steve Davis from Reno wrote this to The Sun:
Mitt Romney’s solution to the housing crisis in Nevada — foreclose on thousands of unlucky families so investors can scoop up real estate bargains that they can rent out — perfectly illustrates the real agenda of Wall Street and the GOP: return us to the two-class landlord system of Dickensian England, where the wealthy, aristocratic lords owned all the land, and the other 99 percent, the working class and peasantry, had to rent from them.
Wake up, America! When the middle class is gone, so is the American dream.
Hard as it is to hear for Las Vegas residents, Romney might be right, according to real estate experts and economists from across the spectrum.
Preventing the bubble by raising interest rates and enforcing tougher lending standards was the proper policy. Once the bubble inflated, however, it had to deflate and prices had to reach equilibrium before there could be any recovery. [...]
For whatever you think of Romney and his callous message to Nevadans, the lesson here is this: Once you’ve fallen for the scam — be it Tulips in 1630, Pets.com in 1999, or Las Vegas houses in 2005 — you shouldn’t expect to get repaid. The money wasn’t there in the first place.
But here's the thing: Coolican just admitted that the big banks pulled a scam on then new homeowners in the early to mid 2000s. And typically when this kind of crime is committed, victims can at least pursue proper restitution (as well as report to authorities so they can file criminal charges). Now perhaps not all the Las Vegas home buyers of the last decade were completely innocent, but one can't deny that their real or perceived "sins" pale in comparison to what Wall Street did to blow up the housing market. And for all those buyers who jumped in hopes of purchasing their first home and finally joining George W. Bush's "Ownership Society", should they bear the greatest burden of punishment for simply following Bush's advice and doing what our leaders were encouraging?
Teabaggers like to place blame on "Fannie & Freddie" and working poor minorities, but they're wrong. And Mitt Romney's wrong. And I suspect Coolican is going in the wrong direction here. But again, they're missing the real root of this crisis: Wall Street deregulation.
The conservative whipping boy of the 2008 [financial crisis] was Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.** The GOP did everything in their power to steer focus away from the deregulation of Wall Street banks. They blamed people taking on more risk than they could afford. They didn’t blame the banks for providing the mechanisms to attract people into the market in the first place. Mechanisms like no doc loans, adjustable rate mortgages and no down payment loans were created by the Wall Street banks in order to increase customers into the housing market.
(** Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are publicly traded companies on Wall Street)
Deregulation made this obtainable and possible. In a free market, banks should be allowed to offer what ever they want in order to attract consumption. The free market also allows mergers and acquisitions, thus creating TOO BIG TO FAIL.
If progressive policies were in place, all these financial mechanisms would be illegal. In fact, if progressive regulations were in place, too big too fail banks would also be illegal making this collapse of 2008 not even part of our history. There was a reason why there weren’t any bank bailouts from the 1940s to 1980s, it was progressive policies that were put in place by FDR and upheld by every administration until Reagan.
The 2008 collapse spurred the Dodd-Frank bill, and while this bill does not address as many problems as I and many other progressives would like, it does address financial mechanisms that attract people into the market that they would otherwise not be in. The Dodd-Frank bill creates a regulation mandating 10-20% down payment on mortgages.
Are underwater homeowners to blame for deregulating Wall Street, allowing banks to create and advertise "No Down Payment! Interest Only! Record Low Rates! Buy Now!" adjustable rate mortgages, then repackage and sell this bad debt as "AAA gold standard mortgage backed securities!"? Are underwater homeowners to blame for the enormous lack of regulatory oversight of the financial sector that reached its horrifying climax in the 2008 economic collapse? So why are underwater homeowners expected by the likes of Mitt Romney to "SUCK IT UP!" when Wall Street "21st century robber barons" are the chief culprits behind this fiasco?
So is that enough to put to rest the inane assertions that Mitt Romney is onto some great idea in wanting more home foreclosures? If not, then let me set aside all notions of altruism (for now) and get down to the economic nitty-gritty: Home foreclosures are a huge economic drag!
The fact remains that 1 million homeowners are expected to go into foreclosure this year, producing a serious drag on the economy. As Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said in a speech today, “the housing sector has been a significant driver of recovery from most recessions in the United States since World War II, but this time — with an overhang of distressed and foreclosed properties, tight credit conditions for builders and potential homebuyers, and ongoing concerns by both potential borrowers and lenders about continued house price declines — the rate of new home construction has remained at less than one-third of its pre-crisis peak.”
If we follow Mitt Romney's advice to "let it run its course and hit the bottom", our economy will be in an even deeper hole that will be even more difficult to escape from. Housing has nearly always been the starting force in turning an economy from recession to recovery. So how do our communities benefit from empty homes? And yes, Romney's "do nothing and let the banks foreclose" policy prescription would lead to even more empty homes if implemented. And this leads to a "domino effect" of depressed home values, scared consumers, fewer home goods purchases, less construction, and fewer jobs. Properly addressing the home foreclosure crisis is not about "re-inflating the bubble", but rather restarting the economy.
I can't believe I'm saying this, but I have to agree with Brian Sandoval on this...
Without a doubt, expanded mediation programs would be a great start in solving this crisis. Continued mortgage financing reform can also help, albeit reform that avoids further privatization and deregulation in favor of a more balanced system that offers prospective buyers home loans that they can actually afford. And funny enough, Coolican actually mentioned in his article the idea of implementing "right to rent" programs that would allow the foreclosed the option of renting back their homes. Another idea out there involves "rehab and rent" programs that would employ workers in rehabilitating foreclosed properties before selling them in "neighborhood clusters" to investors willing to rent them out as affordable housing. But of course, all of these ideas involve some sort of federal intervention. There's really no way to solve the foreclosure crisis without some sort of government intervention.
Of course, Mitt Romney wouldn't be interested in any real solution to the foreclosure crisis, not when one of his top fundraisers is a lobbyist for the notorious robo-signing foreclosure mill that is Lending Processing Services! For Romney's friends, foreclosure is just too profitable to pass up. And there we have the real reason behind Romney's housing policies. It's always been about his bottom line, not the well being of Nevada or the country. It's callous, it's hurtful, and it's just plain wrong.
Why? But of course, his corporate patrons prefer more "billionaire bailouts" and other special tax breaks for the super-rich. Who needs such silly things as schools when Joe Heck's big corporate buddies can get more bailouts!
Ever wonder why Heck won't say anything about creating more American jobs?
He's taking the big bucks from the corporate powers that be, so he has no problems sending more of our jobs overseas. And he has no problem giving more bailouts to billionaires while working class Nevadans suffer.
But you know who has been on our side? Dina Titus has.
She worked to deliver on health care reform that cuts costs, allows for more access to quality care, and protects patients from insurance industry wrongdoing. (And more Americans want to see it work!) She worked and fought for all her constituents, to protect all our civil rights, and make sure that LGBTQ families that are already being hit hard in this economy aren't being hit even more because of discrimination.
So who's really on our side here? Someone who's crisscrossing the district, meeting constituents as often as she can, helping local homeowners save their homes, and doing all she can to help Nevada's working families weather this economic storm? Or yet another Chamber of Commerce/"Tea Party, Inc." backed GOP Beltway tool who basks in the "aura" of his Orly Taitz endorsement and foreign funded Chamber of Commerce attack ads on his behalf while ignoring the needs of Southern Nevada working families?
The $102.8 million for Nevada is set to be used in this way:
· Nevada will create a mortgage modification program using a combination of forgiveness and forbearance with a goal of reducing principal to less than 115 percent of loan-to-value and lowering payments to 31 percent of debt-to-income.
· The state will also offer assistance to reduce/eliminate second liens with earned forgiveness over a three-year term.
· The state will provide allowances for appraisal and transaction fees, moving fees, a legal allowance for up to three months,and a combination of incentives for borrowers and servicers to facilitate short sales.
This help was long overdue, but thankfully it finally came.
But of course, since it was Harry Reid and Dina Titus that worked on making this program happen, the GOoP crowd is crying foul. Reid and Titus work on a program to help Nevadans, and when it happens they bash them and make accusations... Only for the next day to hear them say, "These Democrats don't do anything for Nevada". So which is it?
And of course, they're calling it everything from "welfare" to "socialism" to "bribery"... And calling the people about to receive this aid "lazy bums". Remember that saying, "Judge not, lest we be judged"? These people needing help to avoid foreclosure were just like us not that long ago, people who had "stable jobs" and people who thought they did everything right in investing in their homes in a "HOT, HOT, HOT HOUSING MARKET!" Hardly anyone saw The Great Recession coming, and for too many people these circumstances (losing jobs, losing other sources of income, going underwater on the mortgage) were out of their control.
So don't say "no big government", then whine about "government inaction". If everything were left to "the free market", we'd all be dead and Las Vegas would be dead. Oh wait, that's right... The GOoPers nominated that Obtuse Angle lady who makes no sense. Whatever.
Thanks to people who realize what struggling Nevada families need right now, we're getting some help. And hopefully more homeowners can save their homes.
Below is a special message from Rep. Dina Titus (D-What a Real Promise-keeper Looks Like) on the new Bank of America homeowner assistance center opening here in Henderson. She, Senator Reid, and some good folks in the Legislature all worked to make this happen... And thank goodness they did! It's about damned time that homeowners doing their due diligence to save their homes get the help they need and deserve.
So thanks again, Dina. You're the best! :-)
Dear Andrew Davey, I wanted to make sure you heard the news that after months of pressuring Bank of America to do more for our community and focus more of their staff and resources in Southern Nevada, Bank of America opened an office in Henderson today. The office will be open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and will be staffed with five counselors. You can call toll-free 877-345-6416 to schedule an appointment with them to discuss your situation. Please be aware that this site is not designed to handle walk-in traffic and will only meet with homeowners by appointment in an effort to ensure that people bring the proper documents and to minimize waiting time. I have heard a number of stories from Southern Nevadans who have struggled to get the help they need from Bank of America. From lost paper work to unreturned calls, folks are frustrated with Bank of America’s efforts, and I share that frustration. Since I became your representative, I have worked hard to hold Bank of America accountable, urging the bank to do more in Southern Nevada. I hope that the opening of the first of two offices in Southern Nevada will mark a turning point in its commitment to address the foreclosure crisis in our community. Please know that I will continue my efforts, from working individually with homeowners facing foreclosure to holding housing workshops, and I will continue to monitor the effectiveness of Bank of America’s actions. Do not hesitate to contact my district office, 387-4941 if I can be of help. Sincerely, Dina Titus
Today's Sun has a blistering story on the disasters now plaguing the once grand and luxurious Lake Las Vegas. It's hard to imagine that anyone was imagining this for the synthetic "lakeside village".
I guess one can find a little "dark humor" in the end of the video when they flashed this disclaimer:
NOTE TO VIEWER
Please remember that some of the concepts described in this show are, at this stage, just that: ideas and possibilities that will be tested and explored as the vision for Lake Las Vegas Resort continues to evolve.
I have a feeling Ron Boeddeker and California-based Transcontinental Corporation did not consider foreclosure (even of their development, and only then for Atalon Group, the company that took over in 2007, to file for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in 2008!), an abandoned hotel, a shuttered casino, three closed golf courses, and a nearly empty shopping center as great "ideas and possibilities"... But nonetheless, that's what testing everyone in Lake Las Vegas today.
Marianne Freeman, who owns Tesoro, a home furnishings and accessories store, blames the slowdown in the village on the bankruptcy buzz.
“When the news of the bankruptcy information hit last year, the perception by the local clients was that Lake Las Vegas is closed,” she said. “People stopped coming out.”
Some residents shrug off the depressing scene.
“I don’t think what’s going on in our community is any different from what is going on in the rest of Las Vegas,” SouthShore Homeowners Association President Vicki Hafen Scott said.
Her custom-home neighborhood is one of 19 in Lake Las Vegas, where home prices range from $365,000 to $3.3 million, according to SalesTraq.
During 2005-06, 10 custom homes were selling a month, SalesTraq President Larry Murphy said.
In 2009, custom-home sales slowed to fewer than one a month.
Home Builders Research President Dennis Smith said the difference between Lake Las Vegas and Summerlin, whose developer is also in bankruptcy, is Summerlin’s varied offerings.
“Historically, Lake Las Vegas has targeted one small segment of the spectrum and that is your luxury buyer or investor. When the market went bad and you don’t have that diversity, it’s going to affect you more,” Smith said.
So what's to blame for Lake Las Vegas' many troubles today? Is it simply the bad economy, or was it a bad plan from the get-go? Are all the naysayers who told Ron Boeddeker in the 1980s that his dream of a grand lake in the middle of an uninhabited desert proving to be postmodernCassandras?
Or should we just pay more attention to my favorite philosopher... LADY GAGA!!!!
But how the hell does a synthetic lake in the middle of an otherwise uninhabited stretch of desert fit into the "sustainable development, smart growth" equation? Lake Las Vegas stakeholders, including the City of Henderson and SNWA, really need to think about real, workable answers to this tough question.
And hey, since we're talking about sustainability, what about the economic sustainability of this place. The Vegas Gang discussed the (lack of) tourist appeal in staying in a remote "village" some 17 miles away from the endless party on The Strip, and Steve Friess has chronicled the hot mess of this place for some time. And when one thinks about it, it just becomes even more difficult to understand: What's the appeal to tourists coming to Las Vegas? Why would they fly into Las Vegas just to get away from Las Vegas?
Going back to Dennis Smith's comments, it's really difficult for me to see a way out for Lake Las Vegas since it mostly appeals to uber-high-end vacationers and part-time "residents". And unless they're really attracted to that lake, they can already either find comfortable suburban luxury in the more convenient gated communities of Red Rock Country Club and MacDonald Highlands, or make the ultimate "status statement" by buying one of the (bargain priced!) penthouse condos on or near The Strip at CityCenter or one of the Turnberry communities.
So what is the future of Lake Las Vegas? Honestly, I keep trying to find an answer myself. All I know right now is that residents and shop owners there have some tough questions to consider, and our government and local developers will have to think long and hard on how to avoid any more environmental and economic catastrophes of this proportion.
Nevada had 13,842 foreclosure filings, which was a 26 percent decline from September. Filings fell 4.4 percent from October 2008.
The firm reported one filing for every 80 households in October. Nationwide, foreclosure filings fell 3 percent from September, but were up 19 percent compared with October 2008.
In Nevada, notices of default on home payments dropped 10 percent from October 2008 and scheduled foreclosure auctions were down 6 percent. Bank repossession, however, rose 8 percent in October.
RealtyTrac spokesman Daren Bloomquist said a new state mediation program implemented July 1 may have caused the declines in Nevada because it slowed the flow into the foreclosure pipeline. Under the program, homeowners have the option of going through mediation with lenders.
Wait, so what's RealtyTrac talking about? They're talking about AB 149, the new law passed by the Legislature earlier this year that actually requires the banks to go into court-sponsored mediation to work out a home loan modification. And if this mediation doesn't work out due to the bank's refusal to agree in good faith, the distressed homeowner can persue a remedy in state court.
But why should we have faith that this program will work in the long run? Don't the banks always win? Maybe not, according to these famous local lawyers.
Recently, the non-profit National Consumer Law Center released a report saying that none of the foreclosure mediation programs they reviewed (a list which does not include Nevada) are providing significant benefits to homeowners. [...]
Why? Because the existing programs routinely fail to impose significant obligations on mortgage servicers, according to the article.
In contrast, Nevada's Foreclosure Mediation Program gives homeowners facing foreclosure the option to request a mandatory foreclosure mediation session. This means someone from the mortgage company with authority to negotiate must attend the foreclosure mediation session. Additionally, Nevada has now trained a number of professional foreclosure mediators who also sit in on and participate in the foreclosure mediation session.
It would be great if the other states could create laws with similar teeth in them. And it would be even better if Congress or the Treasury could come up with uniform protections and solutions for homeowners. However, the mortgage industry's lobby is strong. And according to the NCLC report:
"It is unfortunate that the [mortgage] industry has so far prevailed in blocking Congressional action on court-ordered loan modifications, the one step that would level the playing field for consumers and ensure the necessary accountability from all parties....With the industry's encouragement, crucial elements of accountability have been omitted from the Treasury Department's Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). Now, over six months after its inception, this new federal initiative serves only a small percentage of eligible homeowners."
The important takeaway, for now, is that Nevada homeowners have some unique tools at their disposal.
Nevada Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley testified today before the [California Assembly Banking & Finance Committee], stating that she believes Californians can benefit from a program similar to the one she sponsored in Nevada. “No matter where we live, it is critical that we do all we can to help reduce the number of foreclosures and help people stay in their homes. Our program in Nevada has shown initial success in stemming foreclosures. While I understand the obstacles California faces as a non-judicial foreclosure state, I look forward to working with the California Legislature to find ways that a similar program could be implemented, said Speaker Buckley.”
Over the next several weeks, Assemblymember [Pedro] Nava [D-Santa Barbara] will analyze the testimony given at the hearings regarding loan mediation programs and work with stakeholders to determine how to best move forward to address the current crisis and lessen the detrimental impact on California families.
“I am honored to have Nevada Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley at the State Capitol today to testify on her successful foreclosure mediation program. I look forward to working with her as we make progress with California’s own monitored mortgage workout program,” said Nava.
The banks have proven to be predators in enticing people (if not outright forcing them) into risky home loans that they ultimately couldn't afford. And now with these very people defaulting on their loans, the banks just toss them out of their homes with no chance of resolving the defaulted loans. Even though these very banks benefitted greatly from the TARP bailouts, they still refuse to fulfill their promises and use those funds as originally intended.
This is why Nevada needed AB 149... And why California needs AB 1588. While California's program would work differently by implementing a "Monitored Mortgage Workout Program" operated by the California Housing Finance Authority (CHFA) (as opposed to Nevada's system being operated by the state judiciary), it would otherwise be similar in requiring the banks to undergo mediation if a distressed homeowner requests one. Again, this will be a major help in preventing a number of foreclosures by giving homeowners a real chance to modify the home loan before it defaults.
So thankfully, Nevada's program is making a difference in preventing the foreclosure crisis from worsening even further here. And hopefully soon, California and other states will follow our lead.
Honestly, I'm still getting used to it. It's such a strange concept, especially for all of us "newbies" who move in after experiencing Las Vegas mainly as the tourist trap that we lovingly call The Strip. The Strip is always lively, always lit up to the hilt, always full of crazy drunk people doing wildly irresponsible things. How is that home?
But then I come to my lovely corner of Green Valley in Henderson, and everything changes. It's a sea of red-tiled roofs. It's full of families raising kids, quietly paying the bills, doing everything possible to avoid foreclosure, basically doing their best to be responsible citizens. Oddly enough, it's a community and it feels like home.
Stacy Willis explores the concept of calling Las Vegas home in this week's Las Vegas Weekly, though she comes at it from a slightly different perspective. With all these people losing their homes, where do they go? The homeless population has surged, and public and private agencies are scrambling to figure out what to do about it. Where can they go home? Do we have a responsibility in our home community to do something?
I feel blessed to call my home just that. But sometimes, I also feel a little fear as I wonder how close I may be to losing it and how close some of the people I know are to losing their homes. Is there a chance this will make us realize that so many of us actually want to call this place home and treat this great valley as such?
Maybe... But not so fast. Remember that this is being fueled by "bargain hunters" looking for deeply discounted foreclosure and short sale homes. Hopefully the buying spree will continue, but I don't know how it can if unemployment goes higher and wages fall lower.
The Commerce Department reported that sales of new single-family homes rose 11 percent in June, an increase that dwarfed economists’ expectations of a 3 percent increase. The pace of home sales rose to a seasonally adjusted rate of 384,000 a year, the highest level since November.
But the figures offered no sign that the housing market had returned to health.
Despite the monthly increase, sales of new homes were still down 21 percent from June 2008. The market is still swamped by a glut of for-sale houses. And new homes, facing competition from cheap foreclosures, are sitting on the market for close to a year before they sell, compared with a median time of six months on the market in 2007.
