Ups, Downs in North Las Vegas

Nearly one-third of all homes in North Las Vegas, Nev. went into foreclosure during the housing crisis in the last decade. Today, its economy is growing, attracting homebuyers, employers, and experts' concern.

Cosmetics company Sephora is currently building a large warehouse in North Las Vegas, and Amazon opened two distribution centers, with a third planned. However, The New York Times reports, "Steady growth across the country has lifted the stock market and corporate profits. Those gains, though, haven’t filtered down to most workers. Incomes have barely budged, and consumer debt is increasing again." Home prices in North Las Vegas are appreciating so quickly and most of the new home construction is at the high-end, that affordability has become an issue for residents.

Angela Guthrie bought three homes in a dozen years. She bought a three-bedroom house in 2006 with her husband. But she couldn’t keep up on the payments on the mortgage, a subprime loan with ballooning interest rates. She filed for personal bankruptcy, lost the home and got divorced. She tried to buy a home a few miles away, on a property with a rent-to-own option, and put down $3,000 upfront. The deal went bad when she couldn’t get a mortgage, and she lost the down payment.

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