Double-digit unemployment rates and slower population growth are seen to be the major reasons why the city of Las Vegas in Nevada is experiencing some of the country's worst foreclosure rates for the past 1 or 2 years.
Two indices from Standard & Poor that record and monitor the changes in real estate property prices all over the country show that property prices in Las Vegas have declined the most at the end of August this year. On average, it was shown in the index that property prices in the city have slumped by more than 30%, though in general, price decline countrywide is still better than during last year, showing increasing stability in this market.
Sadly, however, University of Nevada (Las Vegas) economist Keith Schwer says that the original problem of increased foreclosure is further worsened by the lack of newcomers who will purchase properties. This is unlike the phenomenon in other cities where population growth is fairly consistent.
The unemployment rate of 13 percent last August also isn't helping. It is estimated that at least 126,000 are needed to be created in order to reduce this statistic by half. In 2007, the unemployment rate was pegged at 7 percent, while it was 4.2 percent in 2006.
For the last two decades, the abundance of jobs and affordable housing were the reasons for the population boom that the city had been experiencing. Today, it is the absence of jobs that pushes people away from considering Las Vegas. Though demographers think that the population will still grow until 2028, it still won't be as rapid as during the last two decades.
Everyone, I suppose, fears the day when the rest of the nations starts rebuilding their housing makets (that seems to be the case now with price stabilization ongoing) while Las Vegas is still left in the sidelines to suffer. I hope the city catches up soon.
