Further Good News for Las Vegas Realtors and Homeowners

The real estate market is continuing to
improve and more markers are turning positive, and this is good for Las Vegas Realtors and homeowners. But
there’s still at least one more major threat to the recovery that we should
worry about.

This good news includes an increase in
sales of existing homes of 6.8% and a drop in the inventory of unsold homes for
the month of March. In the case of new homes, the inventory also dropped to
228,000 in March from 233,000 in February, which is particularly good news for
the hard hit home building sector. The home buyer’s tax credit was helpful in
increasing those sales, particularly for Las
Vegas homes. Though this tax credit applies only to contracts that were
signed before May 1 of this year, there is still a number of potential
first-time buyers that are waiting for the market to hit bottom price. And as
the market gains stability, most of them are likely to make their move.

The government is also doing their best to
encourage lenders to recapitalize mortgage balances at lower levels so that the
payments would be affordable to economically challenged homeowners. In a move
that is sure to benefit both Las Vegas Realtors
and Las Vegas homeowners, Fannie Mae is now cutting the waiting
period in half for eligibility for federally guaranteed financing. This move
will allow those distressed borrowers who previously gave up their home rather
than face foreclosure to be eligible for a new mortgage in two years rather
than four.

The problem ahead is still the about 7
million homeowners who are currently facing foreclosure. Combine this with
the huge inventory of unsold homes and there is little chance that there would be
a significant increase in demand over the next few years. Although these bits
of good news serve as a glimmer of hope for the housing market, the market is
still vulnerable if the economy is challenged by other problems over the next
few years.