A Glimpse of Post-Recession Market

RealtyTrac Foreclosure Report Gives Glimpse of Post-Recession Market

Experts continue to say the state’s real estate market is stable. But, does that black cloud of foreclosures still hover over Nevada’s housing market?

Daren Blomquist, a vice president with RealtyTrac, which has releases its 2015 Year-End foreclosure Report, told KNPR’s State of Nevada that foreclosures are still an issue.

The report showed that bank repossessions were up around the country by 38% and in Nevada they were up 52%.

He said Banks and homeowner have tried everything to stop repossessions from loan modifications to short sales but these methods have not worked. For many, foreclosure and home repossession is the last stop.

While signs of recovery include home prices going up and home sales holding steady, Blomquist believes the housing crisis still hangs over Las Vegas.

“The foreclosure issue is still nagging the recovery and somewhat hamstringing the recovering in Las Vegas,“ he said, “And it definitely shows up in the numbers in 2015.”

Overall, Las Vegas ranks 17th in the country in foreclosures.

Blomquist says the city sits in the top 20 because of how deep the hole was from the housing crisis and because of efforts by state lawmakers to stop it.

However well-intentioned those efforts were, Blomquist said they served to simply delay the pain.

“What was done is they were giving more opportunities for homeowners to make sure they had every chance to avoid foreclosure and that lengthened the foreclosure process,” he explained, “It did help some homeowners, but in other cases that just kicked the can down the road.”

Blomquist also said that despite the progress, Las Vegas still has the highest percentage of underwater homes) which is when the owner owes more than the home is worth) than any other market.

Read the full article here:

http://knpr.org/knpr/2016-01/realtytrac-foreclosure-report-gives-glimpse-post-recession-market#.VqBOX5kWYYw.mailto