For much of the last five years, thousands of Las Vegans have faced the worst financial crisis of their lives.
Their homes were in foreclosure, many filed for bankruptcy, others had to short sell their homes and even finding a place to rent was difficult because of bad credit.
But, the Great Recession is fading, consumer credit is improving and people who lost their home to foreclosure or were prevented from buying for two years because of a short sale are starting to move back in.
Realtors even have a clever name for these homebuyers: Boomerang buyers.
As vice president of RealtyTrac, Daren Blomquist believes so-called ‘boomerangers’ will make up more than a quarter of the homebuyers in Las Vegas over the next eight years.
RealtyTrac evaluated markets nationwide based on boomerang buyers as a percentage of total single-family housing units. Las Vegas topped the list, at 26.3 percent.
That translates into 220,660 potential boomerang buyers from 2015, when the first wave reaches the seven-year window after which foreclosure weighs less on credit histories, through 2022.
GUESTS:
Daren Blomquist, vice president of RealtyTrac
Omar Lopez, board member with the Great Las Vegas Association of Realtors
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