High apartment rents in the Reno-Sparks
Don’t look for the rents to reduce anytime soon.
According to a report from Johnson, Perkins, and Griffin, second quarter data in 2015 indicates average rent for an apartment in the Reno-Sparks metro area is at an all time high — $920 per month.
Where is Reno in in our current market condition for real estate? Is this a good time to buy a house? Should I jump in right now? Should I wait?
If you were to ask a Realtor, the answer would likely be that we’ve finally reached the bottom and now we are in the long, slow, arduous climb back to where we “truly belong”. But, have you ever seen a time when a realtor didn’t say that now was a good time to buy? Couldn’t be a better time?
Me, neither. I’m not suggesting anything nefarious about realtors, here. I just think that if they’re not optimistic about their product, how could they do a good job, anyway?
But all of that is beside the point.
As the saying goes, “the reason for a horse race is a difference of opinion.”
Keith Jurow, writing in Businessinsider.com is firmly convinced that we are still headed for a housing collapse. He examined major markets across the country and found price declines. Exceptions were in Nevada, Arizona and Florida where we have already taken major hits. Foreclosures are way down in most areas but the number of delinquencies are still high.
We are still facing some very serious delinquencies. In many cases the problems were caused, or made worse by government action such as AB-284 here in nevada. This caused the banks to drastically slow their foreclosures. Consequently, the shadow inventories have grown substantially.
Nevada Foreclosure Filings: AB-284 Effective Oct., 2011
Jurow expects another significant drop in prices. Move-up buyers have disappeared because they lost most of their equity. First time buyers are usually limited to entry level properties. So, what’s left are the investors who are focusing on the “sand” states, which include Nevada. That may help us here in Reno.
Added to this we see a large number of potential sellers who, likewise, have little or no equity and are unable to sell. They may have taken out a HELOC or a cash out re-fi.
The bottom line is that I’m not optomistic.
Read more here.
February single-family home sales in Las Vegas and their median price increased from the previous month, while the inventory of homes available for sale continued to decline.
The median price was up 2.5 percent from the prior month at $121,000, even though it’s down 5.5 percent from a year ago.
Inventory declined to 18,870 from a peak of more than 24,000 in 2007 to to 18,870 today. Only 6,543 units are available without contingent or pending offers.
Do you think Reno, too has hit the bottom?
Read more: http://www.lvrj.com/business/home-sales-prices-rise-inventory-dips-141878223.html
I’ve seen rosy predictions before. I don’t know if real estate agents could do anything else. After all, their livlihood depends on it. Else, how could they sell something they thought to be a loser. And don’t assume by this that I think the agents fib about their marketplace. I’m not suggesting that at all.
So, I refer you to this article in NNBW by Kevin Annis about the Reno-area office market and I read it to mean that he thinks things are looking up.
Northern Nevada businesses will realize the worst is behind us. I recognize that this is not a measurable prediction; however, it certainly is worth recognizing. Companies that have weathered the economic storm have made it past the worst of it and will begin reinvesting in local economy.
For me, maybe – and maybe not.
Read more: http://www.nnbw.com/ArticleRead.aspx?storyID=18719
Here’s another “best of”, “worst of” list and Reno wins another prize. It may not be the prize that Reno would like on its resume although it’s not necessarily our fault. It is not just a story about Reno or Northern Nevada. This is an American problem, and I believe it was completely caused by politicians.
This is a list from 24/7 Wall St. of 9 cities that the article claims were nearly destroyed by the recession. Reno was scored in second place.
2. Reno-Sparks, NV
> Pct. jobs recovered: 1.6%
> Q4 2012 jobs: 187,600
> Pre-recession jobs peak: 225,200
> Recession jobs trough: 187,000
> Pct. jobs lost: 16.9%Between 2007 and 2010, the median home value in Reno-Sparks, Nevada declined 37.4%, the 13th biggest drop in the country among metro areas. The problems of the recession have plagued states in the southwest, which once had booming housing markets, arguably more than any other part in the country. From the beginning of 2007 to the third quarter of this year, jobs are projected to decline by 38,200, or 16.9% of the workforce. And according to the report, only 600 jobs, a mere 1.6%, will be recovered by the end of the year.
Read more: http://247wallst.com/2012/01/19/the-nin-cities-that-havent-recovered-from-the-recession/
Foreclosure starts are down all across the West Coast for December. Reduced filings were reported in California, Nevada and Washington. Nevada showed drops of 14%.
According to ForeclosureRadar the drops were due to the closing of trustee sale locations in California. Riverside County passed an ordinance prohibiting solicitation on all County property. California law only specifies that the location must be within the County where the property is located and must be published in the Notice of Sale. Nevada law states
2. All sales of real property must be made:
(a) In a county with a population of less than 100,000, at the courthouse in the county in which the property or some part thereof is situated.
(b) In a county with a population of 100,000 or more, at the public location in the county designated by the governing body of the county for that purpose.
Here in Reno trustee sales are conducted on the steps of the Court House on Virginia Street.
The slow down in Nevada was attributed to AB 284 which established new foreclosure rules requiring the lender and trustee to certify that they have done everything correctly.
“Nevada’s new foreclosure rules appear on track to bring a near complete halt to foreclosures in that state,” said Sean O’Toole, founder and chief executive officer of ForeclosureRadar.
“In the near term this will certainly help homeowners who were facing foreclosure, eviction, and potentially deficiency judgements. Longer term, we believe there will be unintended consequences for the state as business declines for the many real estate related companies that would normally service, resell and finance those foreclosures.”
We know that Nevada leads the nation in foreclosures but seldom with little supporting data.
This heat map from RealtyTrac shows the foreclosure data for Nevada county by county. One out of 177 housing units received a foreclosure filing in December, 2011. Washoe County had one for every 318 housing units. Surprisingly, Lyon County even topped Clark county with 1 for every 144 units. All this compares with 1 for every 634 units nationwide. Check it out.
The rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage reached a new record low of 3.91 percent. This marks the third new low this year. The 15-year fixed mortgage rate, remained unchanged at a low of 3.21 percent.
The exceptionally low rates and the depressed prices have created a superb buying opportunity, but the opportunity is lost for many potential buyers because of the difficulty qualifying for new loans.
With so many homes underwater here in Reno and Sparks very few homeowners can qualify for a re-finance. Additionally, Nevada’s real unemployment further reduces the chances to re-finance.
Read more: http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9RPKO100.htm
As you probably already know from a myriad of sources,, and from just living here. We had some extremely strong winds yesterday. Along with those winds a large number of families lost their homes to fire. The last count I had heard was 22 homes destroyed. I won’t go into all the details because it is readily available elsewhere. My heart goes out to those who were harmed by the fires. The wind not only fanned the flames, but it also carried burning embers to start more fires. Trees were blown down, which also knocked down power lines that may have started more fires.
And now for my experience. I did not have any damage except for things blown around the yard making more work for clean up. When I went into the garage, I noticed that the double garage door was bowing outward and even had some small creases. The door is on the east side of the garage. The wind, coming out of the west southwest created enough negative pressure that I feared the closed door was about to collapse. I ultimately relieved the pressure on the door by opening the door. At first a short distance, and then completely. This resulted in a lot of dirt coming into the garage, but it saved the door.
