Las Vegas the New Detroit?
With a foreclosure crisis that has been out of control in recent years, Las Vegas may quickly spiral to become the new Detroit.
Vegas received further bad news this week when Singapore topped Sin City as the 2nd biggest gambling destination in the world. Macau has been crushing Vegas in recent years.
Home prices here have fallen 58.1% from their 2006 highs.
The median home-sale price in the Las Vegas area at the 2006 peak was $313,500; in 2010, that fell to a stunning $138,100, according to the National Association of Realtors.
Currently more than 70% of the homes in the area are "underwater," meaning their value is worth less than the amount owed on the mortgage, according to Stephen Miller, the chairman of the economics department at the College of Business at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Nationwide, it's more than 28%.
A recent Forbes survey named Las Vegas the nation's second-worst-performing housing market of the past decade.
The worst? Detroit
- Aaron Goldstein, Gambling911.com
