Real Estate Information

I noticed an interesting occurrence while I was putting together the Short Sale and REO for sale property updates today.  Reno real estate in the Reno MLS is showing twice the number of short sale properties available for sale compared against the REO or bank owned properties.  There are currently 713 Short Sale properties and 306 REO or Bank Owned Properties available for sale.  Are the REO properties being sold off or are the banks controlling the number of REO properties that come to market?  Food for thought.

Last evening we attended the Lake Tahoe Music Festival at Old Greenwood just outside Truckee, CA.  This is the festivals 27th year and it just keeps getting better.  The festival is a 501 (c) non-profit organization that provides music from Bach to Blues and Beyond.  Money raised is used to create educational and performance opportunities for aspiring young musicians.  Last night the performance was by Huey Lewis and the News.  They have always been a great band and have a huge following in the bay area.  This concert rocked!

Following is a list of the remaining concerts:

August 1st - Boz Scaggs - Old Greenwood Resort

August 6th - The Yellowjackets featuring Mike Stern - Homewood Ski Resort

August 8th - Festival Finale - Reno Philharmonic Orchestra - Homewood Ski Resort

If you are in the Reno-Tahoe area around this time you need to check these concerts out.  The are great and support a really good cause.

Sales continued to rise in the under $150,000 price range in June (184 sales) over May (155 sales). As previously reported there was an overall increase in sales June over May and all of the identified price points reflected an increase in the number of sales. Of interest is that 31 closings were over $450,000 and 21 closings were over $500,000. Of those 31 sales 5 were short sales and 5 were bank owned. The highest priced short sale had an original price of $1,054,000 and sold for $700,000, a home in the Galena Forest.

Source: Reno Sparks Association of Realtors.

The Federal Housing Administration guaranteed 186,000 mortgages in June, a record number in its 75 year history.

FHA loans are popular because they are one of the few sources of low downpayment mortgages. In the last year, they have accounted for about 46 percent of all mortgage applications.

Along with increasing numbers of FHA activity comes a rising number of delinquent loans, with the level of FHA mortgages in some stage of foreclosure reaching 7.4 percent in May.

Source: The Wall Street Journal, Nick Timiraos (7/20/2009)

It's hot in Reno and we are not just talking about the temperature.  We are seeing a lot of high 90's and low 100 degree days however what is also hot in Reno are the events that are coming up.  The grand daddy of them all is Hot August nights which begins the end of July.  The very popular Reno Is Art Town event continues to provide a smorgasbord of art activities for all ages during July.

In early August we have the Legends Reno Tahoe Open PGA golf tournament.  It seems like it just began a few years ago and lo and behold this will be the tournaments 11th year in Reno.  Wow.  This is a great opportunity to see great golf up close and enjoy seeing one of the top golf courses in Reno.  This tournament has raised more than 1.8 million dollars for Reno area charities.

Yes it is hot in Reno with the temperature and all of the events and activities.

The Reno housing Market and Reno Housing Trends are improving.  There were 520 sales in June in the Reno market.  This is a 26% increase over May sales in Reno.  This is also a 43% increase in Reno real estate sales over June in 2008.

Total 2nd quarter sales were 1362 and were up 38% over 2nd quarter 2008 sales.  2nd quarter 2009 sales were up 54% over 1st quarter 2009.

The June 2009 median sales price was also up 4.5% over May 2009.  As of June 30th there was a 6.3 months supply of listed inventory based on the June sales rate.  This is good news as a 5 to 7 months supply of inventory is considered to be a balanced market.  This is the 1st time since October of 2005 we have had inventory levels in the balanced market range.

We hope that these positive Reno real estate trends continue.

On Saturday August 15th there will be an event holding lots of homes open all over the Reno/Sparks area.

Look for an update on the listings and times as we get closer!

Great way to see lots of available homes on the same day.

Went to see the band Ozomatli last night at The Grand Sierra in Reno.

In their fourteen years together as a band, celebrated Los Angeles culture-mashers Ozomatli have gone from being hometown heroes to being named U.S. State Department Cultural Ambassadors.

Ozomatli has always juggled two key identities. They are the voice of their city and they are citizens of the world.

Their music, a notorious urban Latino and beyond collision of hip hop and salsa, dancehall and cumbia, samba and funk, merengue and comparsa, East LA R &B and New Orleans second line, Jamaican ragga and Indian raga-has long followed a key mantra:it will take you around the world by taking you around L.A.

To quote the vocalist and trumpet player Asdru Sierra "I've always felt that music is the key to every culture, the beginning of an understanding, its a language far more universal than politics".

The crowd was on their feet dancing and singing and having a great time. Check out this band!!

Reno is home to triple 'A' baseball team by the name of the Reno Aces.  This is their 1st year in Reno and they are really drawing good crowds at the games.  The beautiful stadium's seating capacity is 9,100 and the Aces have had an average home game attendance of over 6,600 per game.

The ballpark is absolutely a must see.  I would compare it to a mini Pac Bell pack in San Francisco.  There is not a bad seat in the park.  There is something for everybody to do at the games.  They have a grassy seating area in right field just above the bullpen which is very popular along with a picknic area and a kids play area.

One lap around the inside of the park is 1/3 of a mile.  If you are looking for a little exercise with your baseball then 6 laps gets you a two mile walk.  This is a perfect family experience with general admission seating starting at $7 a ticket.  I haven't seen prices like that since I was a kid.

You owe it to yourself to go see this great facility and by the way the team has been playing .500 baseball for most of the season.  Go watch so Ace Ball. 

The Nugget Hotel in Sparks hosts a free jazz concert every Wednesday night starting at 6pm. The sponsor of this is the local radio station 92.1 Smooth Jazz.

We went to the concert on Wednesday this week and there was a truly inspirational saxophonist playing name of Reggie Codrington.

Reggie was born with Ataxic Cerebral Palsy but that did not stop him becoming one of the world's premiere saxophonists. Reggie's Father was also playing percussion with him which made it even more moving.

Look out for his latest CD "Sunny Days"