LAS VEGAS – In the rampant real estate speculation of the Las Vegas valley three years ago, people lined up outside Pulte Homes sales offices overnight as if they were waiting for the release of the latest video game console or hot new movie.
Having seen his house in an upscale part of suburban Henderson, Nev., jump $200,000 in value in 18 months, Sam Schwartz felt he couldn’t miss any part of the boom.
He spent the night in the parking lot with TV, snacks and drinks, along with about a hundred other people.
Schwartz intended to buy a new home and then quickly sell it within the year – for a huge profit. Most people waiting were flippers just like him, he said.
“We had seen real evidence of what was possible in this crazy, inflated market, and we just wanted to get a piece of that investment equity,” Schwartz said.
But when home prices unexpectedly took a backward step, many investors seeking to cash in quickly were left “upside-down,” or owing more on their mortgages than what their homes were now worth.
The result was a glut of homes in the marketplace, communities spotted with empty houses and for-sale signs – and a foreclosure rate in Nevada that leads the nation as owners unable to sell became saddled with unbearable debt payments.
In Clark County, which encompasses Las Vegas, one of every 30 homes began the process toward foreclosure last year.
The day Schwartz reserved his home, the sales staff was raising prices $20,000 after every fifth buyer came inside. The $500,000 house he and his wife were eyeing had shot up to $540,000 by the time they sat down. Somehow, it still seemed like a good deal.
“Everybody was thinking, ‘Hey it’s not the end of the world, because the homes across town are selling for $720,000. We have almost $200,000 in equity in the house and it isn’t even built yet,’” Schwartz said.
He and his wife put down $5,000 on a home that would end up costing $560,000 with upgrades.
While the Schwartzes were able to cancel before closing on a property that suddenly was worth only $490,000 – and recoup their deposit on a legal technicality – others were less fortunate.
Schwartz, a 44-year-old life coach, said he “narrowly escaped financial disaster.” But the effects of the housing crunch would reverberate for years, he said, something he expects to see among the clients he coaches to succeed in their lives and careers.
More than other states hit by the mortgage lending crunch, the high foreclosure rate in Nevada, California and Florida was driven by speculation, said Rick Sharga, vice president of marketing for Realty Trac.
“It was a combustible mix of risky loans and risky real estate deals,” he said.
Russ Valone, the chief executive of research firm MarketPointe Realty Advisors, said speculators in San Diego were putting deposits on downtown condo units under construction, assuming they could sell them at a profit when they were finished.
“There were guys out there that were rolling the dice just as if they were going to Las Vegas,” Valone said.
When the market slowed, many buyers forfeited their deposits, or let their properties get repossessed by the banks. As a result, the inventory of unoccupied condo units downtown since early 2005 has soared fivefold, he said.
New home builders are slowing down the pace of new projects in Las Vegas and are giving agents’ commissions of up to 12 percent and up to $100,000 in upgrades such as pools, granite countertops and appliances.
“The speculators completely dried up,” said Paul Murad, a real estate observer and author of “Manhattanizing Las Vegas.”
With forecasts of a nationwide 1 percent home price decline this year, there’s no way to flip for a profit now, said Jay Brinkmann, vice president of research and economics with the Mortgage Bankers Association.
“One would have to logically assume that (flippers) are no longer in the market,” he said.
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