The Las Vegas Real Estate Market is shifting from one that has been foreclosure-driven for much of the past 18-24 months to Short Sales. Why is this occurring? Simple question, with a complex answer.
Banks and Financial institutions are shifting to Short Sales for a couple of primary reasons: first, they make more money, as the homeowner can stay in the home and they don’t have to put the house in foreclosure; second, the home is maintained during the sales process, making it an easier sale.
In 2009 Foreclosures accounted for approximately 52% of all Las Vegas Real Estate transactions contrasted with 68% of all sales the prior year. Las Vegas Short Sales began to replace Foreclosures in 2009 and we believe this trend will continue to increase moving through 2010.
The steady increase of Las Vegas Short Sales should help the real estate market by contributing to price stabilization and helping to offset the huge number (blight) of foreclosures in some of our hardest hit neighborhoods. And, it will help to stabilize our financial institutions, saving them fees, helping to maintain the prices they attribute to their overall portfolio of homes, which is very important moving forward.
