Las Vegas Ranks Among the Foremost Foreclosed Cities

February 26th, 2009 | Tags: Foreclosed Homes

Las Vegas the one time epitome of fun and frolic now ranks among the foremost foreclosed cities of America – consequently one of its emptiest cities. Las Vegas edged Detroit out to be today the most abandoned city. Atlanta ranks third. The rankings have been done taking into count rental and homeowner vacancy numbers. The figures (Census Bureau) cover the fourth quarter of 2008. An average of both figures are taken.

Detroit and Dayton cities are the victims of a long period of industrial decline. Las Vegas and Orlando are mostly the casualties of the foreclosure crisis. Boston and New York are two lone bright stars while Honolulu ranks first with a vacancy rate of 5.8% for residential houses and 0.5% on rentals.

Empty and deserted localities are increasingly becoming difficult challenging problems right across America. Laurence Hallier a developer in Las Vegas described the situation as a mess. He said, “Right now, things are just frozen. Everybody’s scared.” Hallier knows what he is talking about. His Panorama Towers complex of $600 million was a great success when it made its debut about three years previously. Within six months the first of his residential skyscrapers were sold. In all he had laid out plans for four such units. The second one was ready in 2007 and was sold within 12 weeks. The third tower was nearing its completion last autumn and Hallier had already sold 92% of the units. Then the foreclosure tsunami struck in full force. Half of the units closed down. Hallier apprehends that it will take years before he regains his balance. Plans for the fourth tower have been put aside indefinitely.

There are many others in Las Vegas with tales of gains and loss. Israeli billionaire Yitzhak Tshuva together with his partner Nochi Danker purchased a 34.5-acre of prime property for $1.25 billion in 2007. The plan was to construct a jumbo casino that would mime New York’s Plaza Hotel. The estimated cost was $8 billion. But by the end of the year the worth of the lot dropped to $650 million – it being half the amount that had been made to buy it. Plans to start the casino have been pushed back till 2010. The debacle is typical of what is happening everywhere in Las Vegas. During the boom massive loans were taken with high hopes for a rich future. But today the gamble is not paying off.