While low interest rates might help prospective homebuyers, they're of little relief to those currently stuck in underwater mortgages.
The latest Las Vegas Valley housing numbers show home prices have again dropped. More homes have been sold, but more than half of those were to investors who paid cash. Perhaps most disconcerting, some experts say we have yet to hit rock bottom.
"I tried to do a loan modification and I wasn't approved for it," said Felipe Ortiz, a local homeowner who's doing everything he can to avoid foreclosure.
Ortiz is out of work, having recently lost his construction job. Now, he's trying to short-sell the home he bought for $165,000 back in 2005 for just $34,000.
"My work went down," Ortiz explains. "They told me I wasn't making enough money to get a loan modification. I told the bank well, that's the reason I'm applying for it!"
The housing market seems like a dead end for homeowners. "Short Sale," "Foreclosure" and "For Rent" signs litter valley streets.
The latest report from the Greater Las Vegas Association of REALTORS (GLVAR) shows that in July the average price for a home sold was $122,000, down 10 percent from last year.
With the discouraging news, we wondered what the incentive is for homeowners not to walk away.
"I think probably over the next 12 to 18 months there's potential for values rebounding," replied Paul Bell, president of GLVAR.
John Restrepo with RCG Economics says you can anticipate another 10 to 13 percent drop.
"At least we can say we're better now than we were a year ago; we're better than [in] '09," Restrepo offers. "But nothing looks like '06."
Restrepo says in order for the housing market to really rebound we need jobs.
"We have no job growth. We need to create quite a few jobs to stabilize housing prices."
Restrepo stressed that those who can pay the mortgage, should, but he understands the frustration.
"It's hard to say even to people who can afford it [that they should] stay in those houses when you see how the banks have been bailed out, how everyone's been bailed out and the average consumer is still struggling."
20 percent of the homes sold in July were short sales and 50 percent were bank-owned. The average price of a foreclosed home in the valley is a mere $107,000.
The report also shows the average cost of condos and townhomes is down more than 13 percent from a year ago, to $59,000.
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