Online House Hunting - Why are houses in Las Vegas so cheap?

Why are houses in Las Vegas so cheap?

These are websites I found on a newspaper for sales of real estate that are around 40K in Las Vegas. http://1800666.com/ http://800948.com/ And I was just wondering, why are these houses so damn cheap? Before even considering to buy one, i must know why. I mean, they look like decent houses... Is it because of a different reason? High crime rates, hot weather? 40K.. What? Wouldnt it take MORE than 40K to build one of these houses..??

Public Comments

I am pretty darn sure its because of the recession. Right now is the perfect time to buy a home, but bad for the sellers
i heard the economy in vegas sucks so that could be it. i mean i've heard that unless you're young, attractive and into the nightlife industry, jobs are few and far between. all it really has going for it other than the nightlife is the hotel business. also the fact that its a desert - just like arizona (another place where houses are cheap)... its extremely hot there in the summer and can be almost unliveable for someone who hasn't grown up there and become accustomed to the weather. i live in seattle and a lot of people from up here have summer/vacation homes down there.
These homes are in short sales from the banks. The reason they are selling so cheap is location location location. Not the best of areas. Not safe to walk around at night. Many of the homes in short sales that don't sell immediately are in bad areas. If in a good area they get snatched up real quick.
Right now is a PERFECT time to buy houses since they're so cheap in so many places. Actually, it takes way less to build a house. Only thing that takes the vast majority of the price is the land. Not the house, literally (as in the wood, windows, labor put in, etc.).
Housing is cheap because there are not really any jobs around the area, so very few people can actually get a job near such a house that would pay enough in order to afford a mortgage and property tax. It may not take more than 40K to actually build one of these houses, but over time you'll be spending a lot more on taxes and maintenance.
Because Las Vegas built too many houses too quick & then the recession hit & hit us hard! So housing is cheap but no jobs. & Some of us like the hot weather.