Home purchases by investors in Las Vegas now on par with national rate

According to a new report from RealtyTrac, investors are buying homes as often in Las Vegas as they are internationally. This is a drastic change from recent years in which local home deals in Las Vegas far outpaced the national average - eliciting a huge spike in investor activity throughout the Vegas area.

When bargain-hunting investors swarmed the Las Vegas market to buy cheap homes and turn them into rentals, they helped revive the market by driving up prices at some of the fastest rates nationally. This raised fears of another housing bubble, but instead of adding fuel to the flame - investors have instead been steadily pulling back from the market.

Institutional investors who purchase at least 10 homes annually bought 1.9 percent of homes sold in Las Vegas in the first half of the year, down 8.6 percent from the year prior. Nationally, investors made home purchases at approximately the same percentage for the first half of 2015.

According to the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors, about 28 percent of homes sold in June in Southern Nevada were purchased in cash, also down from 35 percent the year before and far below the February 2013 peak of 60 percent.

Check out the vegasinc article to read more on the story: http://vegasinc.com/business/real-estate/2015/jul/22/home-purchases-investors-las-vegas-par-national/

Shawn & Kyle Cunningham

Cunningham Group at RE/MAX Advantage

(702) 823-0855 Shawn
(702) 823-0840 Kyle

Photo: STEVE MARCUS

Source: VEGASINC.com

Housing market heats up for summer!

Friends & family -

The housing market is back and in full swing for summer 2015!

We’re seeing more millennials buying homes, consumer confidence is up, and interest rates are still hovering around 4%, so mortgages are affordable. And get this - in some (area) neighborhoods we’re having all out bidding wars with multiple offers on a single home for sale. Supply is not keeping up with demand. This is very comforting to my clients who need to sell their homes at a higher price - especially those still recovering from the recession.

That’s why I wanted to write you today. If you’ve been thinking about selling your home or even refinancing, we offer home valuation estimates that we send out annually to our clients in the mail. If you want yours early (like right now), just contact me and we’ll get it out to you right away. Let me know the address (or addresses) of the home you want the information on, and any recent improvements that you’ve made. This valuation is based on data, and of course the data can’t see into your home and has no experience… so that’s where I come in.

I’ll give you a more accurate price estimate since I know the area and talk to homebuyers everyday. We also run a marketing program using Facebook and thousands of websites globally that generates tremendous activity for our clients' listings.

SO, we all need good news - and I’m happy to say we have a strong Vegas real estate market this summer! If I can help you in any way, just reply to this email or call at any time.

Shawn Cunningham

Cunningham Group at RE/MAX Advantage

shawn@cgvegas.com

(702) 823-0855

Real Estate Market Report - June 2015

Shawn & Kyle Cunningham

Cunningham Group at RE/MAX Advantage

(702) 823-0855 Shawn
(702) 823-0840 Kyle

Home sales and prices rise, but so does number of ignored listings

According to a new report from the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors, the resale housing market picked up pace in June with rising sales and prices. The median sales price of single-family homes came in at $220,000, up 4 percent from the month prior and 10 percent from one year ago.

Meanwhile, the number of ignored listings on the market also kept climbing. In total, there were 7,432 single-family homes on the market without offers by the end of June. This was up 4 percent from both May and last June.

GLVAR President Keith Lynam said in a news release that it's good for local homeowners "when prices are appreciating at a healthy pace like this and more homes are selling."

Lynam also noted that banks are finally doing more to address the issue of "too many abandoned homes" in the area by beginning to clear the pipeline of foreclosed homes that filled up heavily during the recession.

Shawn & Kyle Cunningham

Cunningham Group at RE/MAX Advantage

(702) 823-0855 Shawn
(702) 823-0840 Kyle
Source: VEGASINC.com
Photo: STEVE MARCUS

Home repossessions are rising as banks start to clear out foreclosure backlog

Foreclosures are finally picking up in Southern Nevada, with lenders increasingly seizing homes that have been in default for lengthy amounts of times. In May, creditors repossessed 677 homes in the Las Vegas area - the highest monthly tally over 2 1/2 years. This is the third consecutive month that has seen a month-to-month increase according to RealtyTrac.

The rise in repossessions may sound gloomy at first, but industry professionals say it is merely the result of banks that are beginning to clear the pileup of homes that accumulated during the recession. Previously instated new laws heavily slowed the foreclosure process on delinquent borrowers, requesting much more paperwork from banks, thereby congesting the foreclosure pipeline.

Nationally, creditors seized about 44,900 homes in May, showing a rise that more than doubled the number of homes seized in January.

RealtyTrac Vice President Daren Blomquist said, "This is not triggered by a fundamental problem in the housing market or economy; this is dealing with that backlog."

Shawn & Kyle Cunningham

Cunningham Group at RE/MAX Advantage

(702) 823-0855 Shawn
(702) 823-0840 Kyle
Source: VEGASINC.com
Photo: STEVE MARCUS