Here is the link to the report: http://www.realestatebygraham.com/agent_files/Q1-2010 Statistics.pdf 

Summer is here finally! and I am happy to report that we are selling homes in Somersett.

Here are the latest updates for this great golf course community in North West Reno.

104 homes Active for sale (32 of them in some form of contract) leaving 72 fully active.

Sales Rate (often referred to as absorption rate): 12.33 homes sold per month from April 1st through June 30th.

Months of remaining inventory: 5.83. A balanced market is considered to be 6 months of supply.

Happy home hunting!!

There was lots of great BBQ and other foods along with the opportunity to wash it all down with over 20 micro-brews from all of the country including Reno's own custom made beers made on-site in the Eldorado's on Brew Brothers.

If you are a blues fan and didn't get to attend the event this year you really missed out on a great time.  Make plans to catch this event in 2011.  Great weekend events in Reno continue thru September, 2010.  Come out and enjoy the great variety of actives in Reno and don't forget that Artown starts July 1st. 

Spring is here! (well if you don't count the snow yesterday). Our Real Estate is moving fast and the inventory is extremely low. If you are thinking about selling now would be a very good time, we have a lot of buyers looking around and considering moves from different states.

We currently only have 52 homes actively for sale and that includes the Village, The Vue, and Del Webb. This is an extremely low number considering our total number of homes is 1792. Our sales rate (called absorbtion rate) is just over 10 homes per month and so using this, and with no additional homes coming on to the market, we have five months of inventory. A balanced market is considered to be six months of inventory.

Check out the daffodils trying to appear and have a great Spring!

Pull out a fat pair of skis or your wildest snowboard and make the daring attempt to skim across the pond without falling in and freezing to death. There will also be live music on at the Lodge at Big Springs deck and on the village stage. Drink specials will be available to help erase pain & frostbite and for those that don't find this too apealing there is also roller skating as an option.

The ponds skimming will take place from 11.30am until 2pm. Grab your craziest costume and join in the fun. All participants will need to sign a waiver and anyone under 18 will need a guardian signature also, get there early to sign up.

Prizes will be awarded to the top three finalists & don't forget your costume will help here!

The goal of HAMP was to help home owners stay in their homes with loan modifications.  The goal of HAFA is to standardize the short sale and deed in lieu process between home owners, lenders, loan service companies (banks), real estate agents, title companies, and any other agency that may have an interest in the property.  This program can provide up to $1,500 to the home owner to help with relocation from the property.

Please let us kniow if you would like additional information on HAFA or HAMP. 

Enjoy

What has caused this flip in the distressed property market in Reno?  The reason for this huge shift from Bank Owned (REO) to Short Sales may be simple.  Today Short Sales mitigate loss much more effectively the Bank Owned (REO) sales.  Finally it would appear that property disposition models and the lenders have finally caught on.  The following example provided by a large Wall Street hedge fund heavily vested in mortgage backed securities (MBS) tells the story and illustrates why this shift is occurring.  

The average loss per foreclosure (REO) is around 65%.  Based on a $100K note the investors net a return of $35K.  On a Short Sale the average loss is 40%.  Using the same $100K example, the investor ends up with $60K return.  That's a 25% increase over the investors net if the property is sold as a Short Sale instead of as an REO.

In summary, Short Sales are on the rise and Bank Owned (REO) properties are declining.  If you would like additional information about Reno Real Estate Trends,or additional information regard Foreclosures versus Short Sales in the Reno Area, just give us a call or a text, or drop us an email.

We are supposed to get 300 plus days of sunshine in Reno each year.  Based upon our current lack of sunshine I guess that it will be sunny every day from March thru December.

Maybe we can buy the Tower of London and move it to Reno on the Truckee River.  It might look nice here.  Then we have to find ravens to guard the tower.

I just want to see some sunshine NOW.

What in the world do leaping lords, French hens,

swimming swans, and especially the partridge who won't come out

of the pear tree have to do with Christmas?

This week, I found out.

From 1558 until 1829, Roman Catholics in England were not permitted to practice their faith openly. Someone during that era wrote this carol as a catechism song for young Catholics.

It has two levels of meaning: the surface meaning plus a hidden meaning known only to members of their church. Each element in the carol has a code word for a religious realitywhich the children could remember.

-The partridge in a pear tree was Jesus Christ.

-Two turtle doves were the Old and New Testaments.

-Three French hens stood for faith, hope and love.

-The four calling birds were the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke & John.

-The five golden rings recalled the Torah or Law, the first five books of the Old Testament.

-The six geese a-laying stood for the six days of creation.

-Seven swans a-swimming represented the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit--Prophesy, Serving, Teaching,  Exhortation, Contribution, Leadership, and Mercy.

-The eight maids a-milking were the eight beatitudes.

-Nine ladies dancing were the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit--Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness,  Faithfulness,  Gentleness, and Self Control.

-The ten lords a-leaping were the ten commandments.

-The eleven pipers piping stood for the eleven faithful disciples.

-The twelve drummers drumming symbolized the twelve points of belief in the Apostles' Creed.

So there is your history for today. This knowledge was shared with me and I found it interesting and enlightening and now I know how that strange song became a Christmas Carol...so pass it on if you wish.'

Of most interest was that no single conventional cause such as type of loan, job loss, or property devaluation can explain the factors that led to most foreclosures in the study.

Click on this link to go to the full report.

Questions and Comments are welcomed.

Please let us know if you have any questions regarding this information  A special thanks to the Northern Nevada MLS for providing this data.

The last time the relative housing inventory was this low was in February 2007.

We are definitely seeing this same trend in Somersett, the Golf Community in the North West Foothills of Reno. We have been both living and working in Somersett since it's beginning six years ago and have not seen an inventory this low for a very long time.

My observations are that total overall sales are trending up, Short Sales are trending up, Regular sales are trending up and Bank Owned or (REO) sales are trending flat.

Following are the total sales percentages for Reno real estate from January 2009 thru October 2009.

Percent of Total Sales

Regular Sales - 37%

Short Sales   - 21%

Bank Owned  - 42%

Compared to 2008 regular sales and short sales are moving up while bank sales are moving downward.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

In April of this year the Financial Accounting and Standards Board (FASB) changed the method in which financial institutions (banks) could value their toxic assets.  Up until April, 2009, the banks had to value their toxic assets using a rule called mark to market.  This meant that if a property that was on their books for a $200K mortgage and is now selling for $100K then the bank had to show a value of $100K for this asset on it's books.  Makes sense right? 

With the change in the Mark to Market Rule (FASB 157), the banks can now future value their toxic assets which allows for a higher book value and can provide the opportunity for a more orderly sale of these toxic assets.  Instead of having to dump these assets onto a declining market, they can now elect to hold the asset at a higher book value (not impacting their balance sheet, capital requirements, and bonuses) and then determine when it makes sense for them to sell the assets over time.  Could this be contributing to a decline in REO properties available for sale?  How all of this will play out in regard to Real Estate is anyone's guess. 

Comments and questions are always welcome at www.RealEsateByGraham.com

Thanks