Short Sale Listings Crack 10,000 Mark in Vegas

Short-sale listings passed the 10,000 mark in the struggling Las Vegas-Henderson housing market in September, even as underwater deals that closed during the month were up 22%, broker Robert Jenson of the Jenson Group reports. There are now almost twice the number of short sales on the market as there are bank-owned listings, the luxury Re/Max broker reports, but REO properties outsell short sales, four-to-one. Short sale offerings account for more than half the 19,366 houses currently listed for sale at $1 million or less with the local multiple listing service. By Mr. Jenson's count, 3,217 houses sold in the Vegas-Henderson market in September. That's an increase of 5.3% from August. But it pales in comparison to the nearly 20,000 houses listed with the MLS. In the $1-million-plus category, 17 properties sold in September, leaving 649 desert palaces still up for grabs. Forty-two of those listings are short sales, 21 are foreclosures. Overall, distressed sales account for four out of every five sales in the region, the broker said.