Going, Going, Down
I have just finished reading an article by Jeremy Herron of the Associated Press, which states that Las Vegas is at the top of the list for risk for homes. This article entitled, “LV tops list for risk for homes” could go a long way towards scaring homeowners who bought their homes during the height of the boom. According to the PMI U.S. Market Risk Index from PMI Mortgage Insurance Co., “15 of the nation's 50 largest metro areas have a greater than 50 percent chance of seeing price drops.”
The article states that the riskiest markets across the country right now are, “Riverside, Calif., Phoenix, Las Vegas and West Palm Beach, Fla. -- each with a greater-than-60 percent chance of depreciation”. This is direct contrast to what many residents, builders and real estate pros in Las Vegas see every month, more new home construction to meet the growing demand for housing caused by a rapidly growing job market. Sure, Las Vegas has some problems; any area with so much growth would, but are homes here likely to drop as much as 60%? Click to read this article and see what you think.
Let us not overlook this important disclaimer when we read this article, “PMI's Risk Index estimates the probability that home prices will fall within the next two years, but does not forecast the depth of any decline”. More importantly, it is probably not very wise to make important decisions based on fear.
If you are currently selling your home and have not received too many bites, it is probably not due to overstock but rather overpricing. If you bought your home at the height of the bubble, it was most likely artificially inflated and if you sold a home to buy this home, the selling price was almost surely far more than actual value, so no loss. Now, if you are trying to sell this same house a few years later (now), and you are trying to profit from this sale by asking a ridiculous amount, you will probably see your house sit on the market for months and have to lower the asking price a few times in order to sell. In my humble opinion, if you are serious about selling your house now, stop listening to all of the hype and simply be realistic when pricing your offer. Or you could always rent your house to one of the 6,500 new residents in Las Vegas each month until market conditions are more favorable to sellers…
Thank you,
Lisa L. Magness
http://www.lvrj.com/business/8087122.html
Enjoy, and thank you for allowing me to share my thoughts with you. Have a great week!
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