Posts (RSS)Foreclosed Property Prices Going Down in Lake Las Vegas
Lake Las Vegas is now one of many deluxe Las Vegas communities being downed by falling foreclosed property prices.
Last month, almost 10 percent of houses at the Lake Las Vegas development are already in foreclosed distresed property inventories or in short sale lists, according to property research firm Applied Analysis. Almost 80 percent of foreclosed property and short sale units are unoccupied.
Former property investor Ed Santacruz said his investment in Lake Las Vegas ruined his finances. He said he had to let his hotel-condo become a foreclosed property because he could not find anyone to lease the property to help him cover the mortgage payments.
Last year, Transcontinental Corp., the developer of Lake Las Vegas, lost the entire development to foreclosure after it failed to pay its $540 million loan. Subsequently, the new owners filed for bankruptcy. One of the development’s anchor hotels, operated by Village Hospitality, has also filed for bankruptcy to prevent foreclosure auction, and one of the three golf courses in the development has been abandoned.
Home values in the development have been falling as more and more units enter foreclosed property inventories.
The foreclosure of Lake Las Vegas was caused by the same factors that ruined other high-end developments in tourist-dependent areas. The community was developed to cater to tourists, vacation-home buyers and investors.
The desert resort living concept adopted by Lake Las Vegas was first envisioned by businessman J. Carlton Adair in the 1960s. He was the one who bought the land, but he became bankrupt before he realized his vision. Transcontinental took over the project in 1990.
Launce Rake, a spokesperson for the liberal watchdog Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada, said the development represented the excessive dreams of developers in recent years. Rake said that some high-end developers thought there was unlimited supply of investors willing to put their money in high-end homes.
Real estate broker Lynne Hoffman also invested in Lake Las Vegas, but she has not been able to sell her home despite cutting her price down by the thousands to $488,000.
Nevertheless, Frederick Chin, head of Atalon Group’s unit LLV Holdco LLC that now owns the development, said the firm will reposition the resort development to protect the interests of investors and homeowners.
Foreclosed property listings in Lake Las Vegas show that a condo purchased in 2004 for $359,000 is being sold at $76,900, a mansion purchased for $2.7 million in 2005 is now listed at $1.2 million and a condo sold in 2004 for $1.2 million is now offered for resale at only $389,000. Even the mansion bought by singer Celine Dion in 2002 for $1.2 million is now being sold at only about $795,000.