Foreclosures plague Valley

A sobering statistic came to light on Wednesday in a story about foreclosures.

Real estate agent JP Pilkinton said that Douglas County residents are experiencing 10-20 defaults on their mortgage payments a week.

According to RealtyTrac, there are 185 properties in Carson Valley in default. Another 86 properties are up for trustee sale and banks own 157 properties.

One in every 358 housing units in Gardnerville was under a foreclosure notice during the month of October.

Gardnerville homes experienced the third largest decrease in home sales prices in the state, with a decrease of 15.36 percent.

The good news, if you can call it that, is that the number of foreclosures in Douglas County is closer to the national average than to the state's.

For instance, one in every 20 homes in Fernley, in neighboring Lyon County, is subject to foreclosure.

Easy loans, speculation and unemployment have all contributed to the high rate of home foreclosure.

But there are some bright spots in the county's economy.

Sales tax collections appear to have stabilized after two years of substantial decreases.

Gaming taxes collected in Carson Valley and the capital are stable, though Lake Tahoe's numbers are still dropping like stone.

We're hoping that by the end of the year, we'll see some light at the end of what has been a lot longer tunnel than anyone anticipated.