David Hughes' Blog: All Categories

The Global Insight National City house value report for the first quarter of this year says that the $251,500 median home price in Reno is 0.2 below what they consider absolute fair market value. Back in 2004 was the last time that home prices in Reno were considered to be at fair market value. In the spring of 2006 we were at the peak at 40% overvalued, and 2007 about 25% overvalued.

Bank owned properties are currently making up about 40% of the listings on the market in the Reno area and 66% of the homes going into escrow. Because of the number of short sales and foreclosures on the market I am seeing the median price continuing to go down for the next couple of months. Reno and Las Vegas were on this list in the bottom 50 of areas with the steepest…

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 With the gas prices as high as they are, most of the Reno residents are staying put for the Memorial Day weekend. There are so many different things to do and a lot of events that are going on in Reno – who needs to go out of town.

 There are 187 parks in the Washoe County area. The Sparks Marina is a popular place to hit the beach for some family fun.  Swimming, non-motor boating and they have stocked the lake with rainbow trout and catfish for the avid fishermen.    The Ski Tavern ski area has been transformed for the summer into biking and mountain biking trails.    The Truckee River is a great place to hang out, swim, picnic and the kayaking park is a wonderful place to enjoy watching or riding the current.  Get your inner tubes ready and… Read Full Post

A national survey that measures the involvement of students in advanced placement courses ranked 11 Washoe county high schools in the top 5 percent. What this means is the students here in the Reno Sparks area are better prepared for College. There are currently 27,000 high schools nation wide, Newsweek takes the top 1358 schools and ranks them by the number of advanced placement courses and international baccalaureate programs that are being taken by our students. Here are our schools and how they rank in the top 5% nationwide in advanced placement classes and testing:

• Wooster at 371
• McQueen at 639
• Galena at 722
• Sparks at 725
• Reno at 781
• Incline Village at 856
• North Valleys at 936
• Hug at 949
• Damonte Ranch at…

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My phone is ringing and my email is sounding off! It’s a wonderful thing. The buyers in the Reno and Sparks area are starting to come out of Real Estate hibernation mode and are ready to buy. They are getting some great deals as the market has adjusted back to affordability.

Homes sales in the Reno area grew to 300 in April. That number does not include sales in the Pleasant Valley, Lemmon Valley and Stead areas. That’s a better number than we have seen in the last couple years.

 Fannie Mae is giving us a helping hand by dropping its policy of a higher down payment and not labeling Reno as a  “declining market”.   This allows buyers to put down 3% instead of the 5% they were requiring them to do. This should make it easier for buyers to purchase homes in… Read Full Post

West Street Market is set to open for business this October. Tenants include an italian restaurant, wine bar, grocery store and a bakery. It will occupy 8500 square feet on West Street between First and Second street and beginning in July there will be 50 outdoor vendors selling their goods 3 days a week. Ralph Merenda went to Italy to attend cooking school and will be cooking in the Green Room Bar as well as Nikos Theologitis who will feature home style Greek food. The concept behind the market is to feature local products (up to 150 miles away) including produce that will change with the season and be picked that morning and sold that day in a farmers market style setting. There will be lots of California fruits and vegetables from the Sierra… Read Full Post

Did I mention that we have a river running through the middle of town? The Reno Sparks Convention Authority has set its focus on the downtown corridor and the mighty Truckee River. This years Reno River Festival is expected to attract over 40,000 people, up from 14,000 just a couple of years ago. This is the 5th year and is America's premier whitewater event in the heart of Reno at the Truckee River white water park. In addition to attracting the top white water athletes in the country there is a also a Run Amuck fun run that is a down and dirty obstacle course through the streets of downtown Reno. The event runs from May 9-11 and after enjoying the water events you can stroll to Wingfield park and view the outdoor expo and lots of great music and brews.… Read Full Post

Galena 3 will be dedicated next Monday, it is the newest geothermal plant at the Steamboat complex on the Mt. Rose highway. This is one of Ormat Technologies 7 geothermal plants that could power the needs of all of Reno's residential needs. Nevada has a vast amount of geothermal fields and the hot springs at Steamboat was tapped decades ago by competing interest but has been acquired in the last 5 years by Ormat technologies, a publicly traded independent power producer.

Galena 3 can produce 100 megawatts of power with one megawatt being able to supply 800 homes. The steam is sitting 1000 to 2000 ft. below the surface with the water currently at 300 degrees. Right now there is a good balance of using the water and returning it to the steam fields at 200…

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Last Thursday the Fed dropped its key overnight lending rate to 2% in a move to curb recession. What that means for Reno homeowners is a 30 year fixed mortgage currently at 5.72% down from 5.86% last week. The prime lending rate fell to a corresponding 5% which applies to a lot of home equity lines of credit, credit cards and other loans. This will help the Reno Real Estate market and any buyers who are sitting on the fence.

If you want to see what you qualify for you can go to my website at www.homes-reno.com and get started.

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