Earlier this month, the Nevada Housing Division submitted an application for $810,000 to buy 12 foreclosed homes that sit abandoned in Pahrump. The intent is to renovate and sell the homes..

In addition, the program will provide $1.2 million to low- to moderate-income homebuyers. The money is for down payment assistance to purchase 30 homes in the Carson City, Douglas, Lyon and Nye counties.

The fed’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP), under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, will be the source of the funding. The purpose of Program 2 is to redevelop foreclosed and abandoned property.

Much of the foreclosed property resulted due to first-time homebuyers who put very little down and took out adjustable rate mortgages to purchase their homes. Instead of property values rising, as was the trend for the past ten years, they plummeted, leaving many homeowners upside down in their homes.

Many were not able to get a traditional loan, since more was owed on the property than the property was worth. It is estimated that home values dropped by 40 percent in the area. Many properties in Pahrump are going for half of what they were purchased at before the subprime market crash. Another blow to the housing market was the massive number of jobs lost by many homeowners.

There is an upside to the devastation, however. Nevada lawmakers are exploring legislation to expand the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) test center. Engineering and technical jobs would be created. Many of the 2,800 already employed there live in Pahrump.

Also, the future Nevada Southern Detention Center will employ an additional 250 individuals. It is owned by a private correction organization, which will build the center right here in Pahrump.

It will cost an average of $34,000 to renovate each home in order to comply with required local building codes. Where possible, home sale prices will range from $123,000 to $150,000.

The application adamantly states that the Nevada Housing Division is dedicated “to arresting the devastating effects of the housing foreclosure and abandonment in rural areas of the state.”

It would be nice to see some of those federal dollars being invested right here in Pahrump.