Las Vegas....."we're number one. we're number one....."

U.S. Cities With The Most Underwater Mortgages

1. Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev.

% of Homes with negative equity: 81.1%
Homes with negative equity: 257,683

Zillow Home Value Index: $134,601
Year-over-year change: -31.6%

Last time market was at current levels: Apr 2001
Change from market peak: -55.7%

I watch Nevada Week in Review, a local business/politics/general info show every Saturday. have had some realtor "happy talk" lately about a "turn around" BUT I just don't see it esp with a 13%+ unemployment rate here in the valley. I think it will take as much as a decade for home prices to recover IF they EVER reach their 2006 peaks.

BUT that being said, this is a GREAT time for retirees who want to get out of "great frozen north" "rust belt" areas to move here. I know one realtor who specializes in showing homes to Canadian investors and she says she's getting a lot of action from people from Canada that want winter homes.

Lerink whatdefines neg equity   debt>value ?

What % of these tract homes have squatters/crack person holed up and will need to be evicted?

Is it going to get like Resident Evil 3,where the zombies take over the LasVegas icons with zombie dogs and zombie crows?

I understand that Vegas won't need hotel rooms for another 8-10 years. I enjoy your stuff LeRat. GL

Lerink whatdefines neg equity   debt>value ?

as I see it, it's that just about every tract home built during 2005 and after is down 50%+ from their selling price and with so many people losing their jobs here, esp in residential construction, people are just "walking away" from their mortgages and filing bankruptcy.

and that's a LOAD of houses. every tract built south of Silverado Ranch road, which is south of the airport, was built then and that's a HUGE area.

like I said, I think it will take at least a decade to eat through that inventory and it's intirely probable that home prices will NEVER recover to those mid 2000's values. as example, our house which cost 130K in 1991, hit a high of just over 400K at the top. it worth around 200K now.