LAS VEGAS HOME PRICES EXPECTED TO KEEP DROPPING FOR THE NEXT 6 MONTHS AND RECOVERY WON'T COME UNTIL BANKS INCREASE FORECLOSURES

According to housing analyst Dennis Smith in his annual housing report.

"2012 in my opinion is going to be the most interesting year yet because of the governments intervention trying to manipulate housing recovery."

Dennis Smith is the President of Home Builders Research and said during his hour-long presentation, "just look at the shadow inventory - 2.5 million homes are bank owned and real estate owned, and that 4.5 million people have stopped paying their mortgages, with the number of potential foreclosures estimated at from 8.2 million to 10.3 million."

"These numbers have really shaken up policy makers in Washington. We could see 10 million out of 55 million mortgage holders go to default."

It is estimated that 61 percent of Las Vegas home mortgages are upside down. With 422,000 mortgages in Las Vegas, that's roughly 257,000 homeowners at risk of default.

"Lets assume that half of these turn into foreclosures. No government program could overcome that deficit."

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are still refusing to reduce their principal mortgage balancesand loan servicing firms have no incentive to do so because they collect fees based on
payment amounts.

"We have to see what happens when that spigot of bank owned foreclosed homes gets turned back on."