Bargain Hunters Heat Up Vegas Home Sales

More interesting than national numbers on sales of existing homes, both primary residences and second homes, is the growing appetite among shoppers in snapping up foreclosed properties at fire-sale prices.

"Homebuyers shrugged off economic worries and pounced on sharply discounted foreclosed homes in California, Nevada and Arizona, driving up sales last month across the West, according to two reports," the AP reported yesterday.

But the median price for these homes sold in the 13-state West region was down 11 % to $252,400. The red hot center for sales: Las Vegas, which in March saw its median home price fall "about 42 percent to $135,723."

No surprise here. Investors with cash see rock-bottom prices as a chance to take advantage of the opposite end of the Vegas home-building boom. One broker told Alex Veiga of the AP that his buyers were chiefly Californians. ""The biggest difference between now and the investors from '04 is these investors are buying them in full cash, and in '04 it was everyone buying them with zero-down loans."

Takeaway point: We seem to be entering the vulture phase of real estate enterprise.

Flagstaff AZ Home Prices Plunge

With buyers looking for bargains, median home sale prices in Flagstaff, northern Arizona, continue to fall. "In October, the median price was $328,000, down $58,000 from the same month the year before," according to an article in the Arizona Daily Sun. "But that price remains at least $75,000 more than what a median-income family in Flagstaff can afford." Photo shown is a house for sale at $348,500.

Out of 56 homes sold, said the paper, 33 "were priced below $350,000. In the $350,000 to $500,000 range, houses languish -- there is a 15-month supply, said the newspaper. Flagstaff is home to Northern Arizona University and has been a flourishing second home destination.

Canadians Eye Scottsdale 2nd Homes

It may be 110 in the shade in Scottsdale, Arizona in the summer but that is not stopping bargain-hunting Canadians from eyeballing second home residential properties in the area's renowned golf communities.How? Many shop the Web, others actually visit. Mike Weinberger, an agent for TeamFore, says his outfit has closed on 23 sales to Canadians, most of them from the western part of the country, since January. Reason: the dollar is down nearly 40 % compared to the Canadian dollar, a/k/a the Loonie. "The Canadians see this as a sweet spot," Weinberger told me. Buyers are principally looking for vacation homes, not investment properties or places they can flip he said. Prices: under $200,000 for a condo in the heart of town: $400,000 for a handsome single-family, such as the one shown above in Cactus Glen listed by Weinberger's colleague Diane Watson.

Canada Shops U.S. For 2nd Home Bargains

Orlando, Las Vegas and other vacation home spots suffering fromt the burst housing bubble have newly interested buyers in Canada. "The combination of the strong Canadian dollar and plummeting real estate prices in the U.S. due to the sub-prime mortgage disaster has made buying property feasible again, especially in Florida and California where home prices had risen dramatically in recent years," says a column in today's National Post. Note to sellers: these are not just potential investors but snowbirds who have always wanted a warm getaway. For oil-rich buyers in Alberta, golf and gated communities in Arizona are a big draw.

Author Says Now's Time to Buy

Christine Hrib Karpinski, author of How to Rent Vacation Properties By Owner, says you don't need to dig deep right now for a vacation home. Last year saw "a definite shift away from more expensive markets (Florida, Nevada, Arizona) and into more affordable locations (Georgia, Tennessee, the Carolinas). Obviously, houses will cost less in these areas, which means more buying opportunities for less affluent individuals." Karpinski also finds a silver lining for those who don't think they need rental income. While less than 20% of those responding to a Realtors' survey said they would not rent out their vacation getaway, "when people do decide to start renting it out, they are delighted to discover how easy it is and how profitable it can be."

Bias in Second Home Sales?

The Wall Street Journal recently ran a disturbing article about minority second-home buyers who were either blackballed or otherwise discriminated against when they tried to buy a vacation home. Where? In "Palm Beach County, Fla., there were 144 race-based housing complaints made to the local chapter of the nonprofit National Fair Housing Alliance in 2005, a 30 percent increase over the previous year, with many of them being filed by first-time second-home buyers. Bias claims are also up in Naples, Fla., and San Diego County, according to data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development." The article included a tale of an African-American doctor who had a deal on a house in Sedona, AZ that was suddenly cancelled. Do you know of a bias case? Let me know.

Flagler Ain't Flagging

Okay, so Flagler County, on Florida's Atlantic Coast south of St. Augustine, had the highest rate of growth in the number of housing units of any county in the nation for the second year in a row, the U.S. Census Bureau estimates. I'm not sure how significant this is, except that it might be the last secret swatch of sand in the Sunshine State. The trouble with counts by county is that Flagler shoots to the top of the list with only 5,000 new housing units -- a nearly 15 percent jump over 2005. Also on the list: Maricopa County, the Arizona sprawl that includes Phoenix, with 52,000 homes added.

You Paid Too Much

If you just bought a second home in Naples, Fla. you probably paid nearly double what the property is really worth.

A Barron's study based on info from National City, a Cleveland banking and mortgage outfit, says homes there are overvalued by 96 %. Second on the list is Port St. Lucie/Fort Pierce, Fla. Top 10 overvalued cities include Tucson, Prescott and Phoenix in Arizona; Bend, Ore.; Napa, Calif.; Barnstable, Mass.; and Ocean City and Atlantic City, N.J.