Real estate slump affects all

Three vacant properties will be auctioned for back taxes on Aug. 6, something that almost never happens in Douglas County, said Clerk-Treasurer Barbara Griffin.

"This is very unusual," she said. "More than 99 percent of the property owners here pay their taxes on time and in the last 13-15 years, we've had only one other property auctioned."

According to Nevada law, properties are held for three years and if in that time the taxes aren't paid, the property goes to public auction. Two other homes would have been auctioned, but the taxes were paid on the last day, Griffin said.

She didn't know the reasons people failed to pay their taxes on these properties, but feels the economic slump may have played a role.

When compared to last year's figures, existing home sales have dropped 33 percent in Douglas County for the period ending in June. The $400,000 median sales price is down 7 percent and the sales-dollar volume is down 44 percent, according the most recent report from Sierra Nevada Realtors Association.

Those figures don't include homes sold by owners or new home developments that don't participate in the multiple listing system, but Douglas County's building permit total has dropped dramatically, from 574 single-family dwellings during fiscal 2005-06 to 175 for fiscal 2007, which ended June 30.

According to RealtyTrac, an Internet Web site, Gardnerville has 55 single-family home foreclosures and Topaz Ranch Estates has one. Minden, Indian Hills and Genoa have none.

Michelle Godde, spokeswoman for Syncon Homes, said everyone is taking a hit in this market and new home sales have suffered.

"Luckily we're diversified and have projects in other areas, but our strongest sales are in Douglas County," she said. "La Costa is doing best. It's a lot of house for the size of the lot, but our target buyers are the empty nesters. They travel and don't want to deal with a lot of yard maintenance."

Despite the slump, Syncon is moving forward with plans for a large-scale project in north Douglas County's Clear Creek area, Godde said.

"There are so many variables, like weather and engineering issues," she said. "The safest thing I could say is, it's a work in progress."

Mick Cavnor of Beverly Realty in Gardnerville said the real estate market is caught between buyers waiting for the price to come down and owners who think their home is still worth what it was a couple of years ago.

"There's a stalemate," he said. "But buyers need to realize prices could start up and if they wait, they could miss the boat."

There are about 88 homes for sale in the Gardnerville Ranchos for under $300,000, but two years ago realtors would be lucky to find seven homes in that range. Buyers had to make their decision before the property was sold to someone else, Cavnar said.

"About every three weeks we hear something in the media about the sagging market, but the sub-prime market has blown the statistics out of proportion. Interest rates are still good," he said. "It's still a buyers' market and it's to a buyers' advantage to jump on it."

One developer Cavnar knows said he expects the slump to last another six to eight months, while another thinks it will last three to four years, he said.

The cost of renting is between $300 -$400 under the cost to purchase a home, but as the demand for rentals grows and prices increase more people will consider buying, he said.

"I think this winter will be slow, but if buyers are educated the housing market will pick up," he said.

Susie Vasquez can be reached at svasquez@recordcourier.com or 782-5121, ext. 211.

BREAKOUT

Properties to be sold for taxes in Douglas County include a 10-acre parcel in Fish Springs, an 11-acre parcel in Lake Tahoe that is unbuildable and a residential lot in the Gardnerville Ranchos.

For more information, contact the county treasurer's office at 782-9018.