The recent downfall of the Corus Bank in the Las Vegas Market was caused by the bad investments it made. According to the reports, the shares of Corus plunged down 98% from their 52 week high of $5.23 per share. Regrettably, last September 15, the Corus was delisted from the Nasdaq National Market.

According to the reports, the turmoil in Las Vegas Valley’s high rise market continues because of price resets in order to meet the depressed condition in this product. With a low purchase rate, some new owners can take advantage of it and make a very good profit with sales at the foreclosure price. This summer, the median price of the Las Vegas luxury condominiums was $386,500 , which is 25% lower than last year.

Due to this, The Starwood Capital Group recently purchased several high-rise properties in Las Vegas through U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.’s asset auction of Corus Bank, a unit of Chicago-based Corus Bankshares. In the past years, Corus Bank supplied more than $400 million worth of loans for Las Vegas Valley condominium developments, many of which didn’t reach full potential. Based on the reports, this is an opportunity that may result in some quick price adjustments thought Las Vegas Valley. This deal will more likely have a huge effect on Southern Nevada’s luxury condominium market because of the scope and scale of Corus Bank’s local financial participation.

Local projects financed by Corus include Meridian ($111.3 million), Platinum ($87.6 million), Loft 5 ($56.5 million), Juhl ($106.2 million), Newport Lofts ($67.1 million), Panorama Towers ($236.3 million), Village Green ($60 million), the Residence Las Vegas ($56.8 million), Soho Lofts ($49.3 million), Copper Canyon ($43 million), Boulders at Lone Mountain ($40.2 million), Verano ($39.5 million) and Spanish Palms ($28.2 million) Streamline downtown and One Las Vegas on the South strip.

Country superstar Garth Brooks have agreed to come out of retirement and take a five year weekend residency and shows at the Wynn Encore in Las Vegas starting on December 11. The reason for this was Steve Wynn, the Las Vegas casino mogul. By offering Brooks a large paycheck together with perks, Brooks agreed to take the offer. This summer, Brooks have already kicked of his shows by playing two secret shows at the hotel.

Having been in the casino business for quite some time, Wynn knows that attracting people to visit his hotel can be one of the hardest part for him. Having Brooks to entice people to come and visit, might just be worth the paycheck. Each ticket for the show costs $125 and total sales for the shows could bring Wynn millions of dollars. But more importantly these shows will be drawing people to Las Vegas and to Encore, the luxury hotel he opened when the economy was really bad.

Other the big paycheck Wynn gave Brooks to play at the Encore Theater, he also included the ultimate executive perk, Brooks’ own private jet. According to Brooks, his top of the line private jet, a new 11-seat Challenger jet has a very cool interior and paint job. Wynn also said that, this private jet will make Brooks honor his promise and would also make his commute from Oklahoma to Las Vegas faster and more elegant.

As stated by The Montecito Companies, a Las Vegas based real estate investment and development firm, they will start purchasing around 100 bank owned properties in the city some of which they will rent but others they intend to purchase before prices start rising. They also explained that the key to turning a profit is getting a steep discount by buying properties in bulk for cash and spending $3,000 to $10,000 in refurbishment, for a swift resale. The real estate buyers are now risking their business if the real estate prices fall again. As reported by the experts, the rising unemployment could be one of the key factors to hit the real estate market and an excess of foreclosed properties suddenly jumped on the market could see values plunge. One of the areas hit by the price drop is Las Vegas. The price of the properties are very low, abundant and has steadily decreased by 58%.

According to the data, investors are slowly returning to the market as they see that real estate prices have steadily dropped far below the trend and sees this as a very good investment opportunity. Also, the prices of residential properties across the nation rose for a third straight month in July, encouraging investors to purchase properties. The S&P/Case-Shiller index of house prices in 20 metropolitan areas rose nearly 4% in the period. Investors who have the money are taking risks while the prices are still low, before it slowly creeps back to their normal prices. As the effect of this, property investors are now slowly returning to US real estate market although there the project are smaller compared to the big projects they got years ago.

During the recent meeting of the Las Vegas Real Estate Insider Club this October, they invited the Las Vegas Mayor, Oscar Goodman as their keynote speaker. Famous for his previous stints as being a high profile defense lawyer for the Las Vegas mob, the wowed the crowd with fascinating stories about his ex-clients and his likeness for the movie industry. Unfortunately, some guests that has not previously pre-registered has to be turned down due to the space constraints of the top floor of Newport Lofts, located in downtown Las Vegas.

Most of his topic was geared towards the status of the real estate business in Las Vegas. According to his observation, the Mayor said that the number of sales remain high since June and the number of foreclosures is steadily declining, this however resulted in a shortage situation in the real estate business. According to him, more people are now looking to buy low-priced REO homes than there are homes to sell them. This clears up why investors and realtors are facing numerous offers and bids try to acquire home in the past couple of month. Now as the REO declines slowly, the mayor has found that a change in direction is now required to provide his investor clients with the continued ability to purchase quality investment properties without having the price bid up to levels incompatible with strong cash flow.

Several factors contribute to this drop; one factor is the continuous job loss of many individuals. With escalating rate of unemployment, more short sales are to be expected next year. Hence, people could not afford to buy a place to live. Another factor to be considered, buyers are actually waiting for the prices to go down further near bottom before investing a new home.

The $8000 tax credit for new homeowners served as an incentive; enabling the real estate industry to achieve – which everybody hopes for – sustainability. But with the present trend, we haven’t been able to reach that yet, as what Lawrence Yun, National Association of Realtors chief economist had stated. Yet, realtors consider this downfall only temporary.

Though, as the nearing of the tax credits’ deadline draw near, which would eventually end on November 30, many are actually interested about what will happen to the economy.

The news organization USA Today reported that months after the financial meltdown, a phenomenon called economic survivor guilt started to creep into the American society.

Economic survivor guilt is defined as the uncomfortable feeling of “capitalizing off of somebody else’s misfortune.”

In Las Vegas and surrounding Clark County, this economic survivor guilt is specifically prevalent.

This phenomenon is specifically prevalent in Las Vegas and surrounding Clark County as a great number of homes in these areas are owned by banks.

Last July, one in 13 homes in Las Vegas and surrounding Clark County was owned by banks, this according to data aggregator RealtyTrac.

The data aggregator reported that for the month of August, the state of Nevada lead in the U.S. foreclosure rate list. One in every 62 housing units in Nevada received a foreclosure filing in August, the data aggregator added.

This over supply of foreclosed homes in Las Vegas and surrounding Clark County brought home prices down to a bargain level.

The bargain price of homes is reason enough to rejoice and take advantage of the market, but there are individuals who are comfortable with the idea that they are benefiting from the downfall of others.

One realtor told the news organization that whenever prospective buyers articulate their guilt feeling on buying bargain-priced homes, he would tell his clients that they are not to be blamed of the situation at that instead seize the market opportunity for the benefit of their families.

Sylvia Lafair, psychologist from Santa Fe, N.M., told the news organization that buying a bargain-priced home is similar to buying a discounted stock. The difference though, Lafair said, is that in buying a discounted stock, a buyer does not in any way comes in contact, directly or indirectly with the owner.

One way of overcoming this economic survivor guilt, she said, is for bargain-priced home buyers to balance this guilt feelings with philanthropic deeds. One example, she said is by donating unnecessary old stuff to the shelter or Salvation Army when moving to the newly bought home.

One way to reduce the number of foreclosures is by increasing the short sales, this according to the president of HBN Interactive Duane LeGate.

In Las Vegas where foreclosure is at its height, increase in short sales could lead to fewer foreclosures.

A short sale is a transaction whereby a lender permits a borrower to sell his home for less the amount that the borrower owes.

LeGate reported that many lender banks are putting off the foreclosure process when an acceptable short sale is in sight.

About 10 percent of the property transactions in Las Vegas are short sales, the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors reported. There are currently close to 4,800 properties in Greater Las Vegas that are listed as short sales.

FOX5 News reported that lender banks see short sale as an alternative to foreclosure. The news organization said that for every foreclosure, a lender bank spends about $50,000 in legal fees and maintenance alone.

The news organization added that although a short sale affects the credit status of the seller, there are cases that in just a few weeks a short sale seller qualifies to purchase another property.

To qualify to purchase another property in just a few weeks, a short sale seller has to have a legitimate reasons for the short sale such as accident, loss of a job, or a transfer to another city.

In its latest report, data aggregator RealtyTrac reported that Nevada continuous to top the U.S. foreclosure rate list, with one in every 62 housing units in Nevada in August receiving a foreclosure filing–defined as default notice, scheduled auction and bank repossession.

The data aggregator added that a total of 17,902 properties in Nevada received foreclosure filings during the month of August, a rise by 53 percent from August of the previous year.

The expiration of the $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers is set on Dec. 1.

As Dec. 1 draws near, first-time home buyers are making extra efforts to avail on the Federal government’s tax credit, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.

Time is not on the side of the first-time home buyers. Despite the fact that the tax credit expires on Dec. 1; still the Nov. 30 deadline has to be beaten for one to qualify.

To avail on the government’s tax credit, the transfer of title to the new homeowner must be registered on or before Nov. 30.

Clock is tickling then as it typically takes 30-40 days to complete a home sale transaction.

Not everybody can avail on this tax credit. Only those home buyers that have not owned a home in the past three years can avail on this tax credit. The passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 makes this tax credit available to first-time home buyers.

The news organization Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that many of the first-time home buyers have availed the Federal Housing Administration loans. In August, the news organization reported that, Federal Housing Administration loans made up 28 percent of home sales in Las Vegas.

Of the total home sales in August in Las Vegas, 42 percent were cash transactions, 5 percent were Veterans Affairs loans and 23 percent were conventional loans, the news organization said.

With the plunged of median price of existing homes in Las Vegas amounting to about $135,000, for first-time home buyers; an $8,000 tax credit is an important consideration, Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.

With the end in sight for the government’s $8,000 tax credit, lobbyists are calling for Congress to extend the period of the tax break. Lobbyists are also calling for Congress to increase the tax break to $15,000 and to make this tax credit available, not only to first-time buyers but also to the rest of home buyers.

The organization called Home Builders Research has reported that despite strong competition from foreclosed homes, there are strong indications that buyers’ interest are shifting to new homes.

Home Builders Research reported that 426 new homes were sold in Las Vegas last month; while 407 new homes were reported sold last July in Las Vegas. Sales for existing homes in Las Vegas reached 3,833 in August; while 4,371 existing homes were sold in July.

Difficulty of finding good foreclosed homes and multiple offers are some of the reasons of the growing interest of buyers for new homes, the research group said. The hassle-free transaction, as opposed to the stressful transaction of foreclosed homes, was cited by Home Builders Research, as one of the reasons why buyers are keen on buying new homes.

The growing popularity of new homes with $100-square foot floor plans is another reason for the buyers’ interest on new homes, the research group said.

The housing market in California is said to be stabilizing, this according to the latest survey conducted by John Burns Real Estate Consulting. The consulting firm gathered its information based on the survey the firm conducted with 269 home building executives.

Good housing market news in California is in way a good for Nevada as the situation of California is close to that of Nevada.

The consulting firm’s vice president of Irvine Jody Kahn said, “For the first time since we began our home builder executive survey 15 months ago, more California builders reported raising prices than those who reported prices were flat or down.”

With the continuous supply of home repos, Las Vegas-based SalesTraq reported that home median price could hit $100,000.

Data aggregator RealtryTrac reported that for the month of August, the foreclosure activity in Nevada decreased by 8 percent from the previous month. Despite this foreclosure dip, the data aggregator said Nevada still ranked number one in the nation’s foreclosure rates.

Las Vegas-based SalesTraq, meanwhile, reported that there is a continuous supply of home repos on the Las Vegas real estate market.

One in every 62 housing units in Nevada received a foreclosure filing for the month of August, this according to RealtryTrac. In the entire Nevada for the month of August, 17,902 housing units received a foreclosure filing–defined by RealtryTrac as default notice, scheduled auction and bank repossession.

RealtryTrac added that while Nevada posted an 8 percent decrease of foreclosure activity in August, this is still 53 percent up compared to data in August in the previous year.

Florida posted the nation’s second highest foreclosure rate, with one in every 140 housing units in Florida receiving a foreclosure filing. Next to Florida is California, with one in every 144 housing units in California receiving a foreclosure filing. Arizona, for the same period, posted the nation’s 4th highest foreclosure rate; with one in every 150 housing units in Arizona receiving a foreclosure filing.

For the entire country in the month of August, the data aggregator RealtyTrac reported that one in every 357 housing units received a foreclosure filing. This means that 358,471 U.S. properties received a foreclosure filing in the month of August. Compared to August of the previous year, this data is is one percent less.

“The August report demonstrates that there is still an ample supply of properties filling the foreclosure pipeline even while the outflow of bank-owned REO properties onto the resale market is being more carefully regulated,” James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac, in a statement said.

He further said, “After hitting a high for the year in July, REOs dropped 13 percent in August, but we also saw a record high number of properties either entering default or being scheduled for a public foreclosure auction for the first time.”