Southern Nevada housing may not be as affordable today as it seems

The real estate market bust in Las Vegas valley - home to communities like Summerlin, Silverstone Ranch, Henderson, Mountains Edge, North Las Vegas and Rhodes Ranch - has taken down with it homeowners, mortgage lenders, real estate agents and builders, and a host of others closely tied to the industry. It has been as brutal a segment collapse as any in history. One of the most plundered victims has been the price. Homes in some of the newer subdivisions have lost as much as 60% of their value in just a few years.

To scores of once-happy and optimistic homeowners the word underwater has suddenly become a hot topic, as their property value now is much less than the underlying mortgage. On the other side of the coin are first-time buyers who are drooling over the current housing affordability in Las Vegas, seeing a unique opportunity to grab a home for mere pennies, it seems. A nice home in a solid neighborhood can be purchased for under $150,000, essentially at a price from 10 years and beyond ago.

NAR, or National Association of Realtors, national affordability index bravely backs the trend and soared to a record territory in 2009, reaching 171.6. A household with a median income thus had 171.6% of the income to be approved for a home loan on a median-priced property. This puts it way above what is required. In comparison, the same index stood at 115.4 in 2007, making home buying those days a fair contest.

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