Experts Say End of Eviction Moratorium Could Help Las Vegas Housing Market

LAS VEGAS, NV – As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to wind down as vaccination rates increase, the Las Vegas housing market has been skyrocketing, with inventory continuing to shrink as prices correspondingly continue to climb higher and higher. It’s a matter of supply and demand, and currently the demand is outpacing the supply.

It’s a situation that’s starting to prove to be problematic – median home prices in Las Vegas have increased more than 20 percent from 2020 – and many first-time and entry-level homebuyers are finding themselves being priced out of the market.

However, real estate experts are predicting that the end of the federal eviction moratorium – which occurred on July 31 – and the resulting repercussions could result in a stabilizing effect upon housing supply and prices.

The end of the moratorium – which was keeping people behind on their rent in their homes during the height of the pandemic – means that potentially scores of tenants may be facing eviction proceedings for failure to pay rent. As a result, experts say, numerous homes will eventually be making their way into the Southern Nevada marketplace.

However, it will take some time – at least 30 to 90 days, if not more – for the effect of these new homes joining the Las Vegas inventory to be truly felt, as evictions can take some time to play out. In addition, a new law passed by the Nevada legislature will put evictions on-hold if tenants have applied for federal rental assistance money, and the process of awaiting the approval or denial of those funds can take months.

A big shift could be seen by the end of 2021, experts say, as many evictions will have been completed by that time, coinciding with the time of year when FHA loan limits are increased. Currently, FHA loans are limited to $378,000, and the median price for a single-family home in Las Vegas is $420,000; by the end of the year, however, that could all change in the buyer’s favor, opening the doors for a more stable, affordable Las Vegas housing market.

Shelter Realty is a Real Estate and Property Management Company specializing in the areas of Henderson, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, NV. Feel free to give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any questions you may have.

LAS VEGAS, NV – After several controversial extensions since it was originally instituted in the fall by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to prevent homelessness during the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal eviction moratorium finally came to an end on July 31, and now thousands of households in Nevada are facing potential eviction for nonpayment of rent.

In order to help in the only way he currently has available to him, Governor Steve Sisolak is now urging Nevada residents who are behind on their rent and anticipate being evicted in the very near future to do their best to seek out rental assistance programs that are available to them.

“I want to be clear, if you are a renter you must apply for this assistance,” Sisolak said. “Filling out and submitting an application is the best thing you can do right now if you fear you may be evicted for nonpayment of rent.”

Sisolak, during a virtual news conference held this weekend, continuously urged residents to apply for rental assistance, since the recently-passed Assembly Bill 486 temporarily halts the eviction process for renters until the aid applicant is notified of the outcome. The bill also allows landlords to apply for aid on behalf of tenants who are behind on rent but for whatever reason have not applied for aid themselves.

“We have plenty of rental assistance money available through funds from the federal government,” Sisolak said. “There are dedicated people through all levels of government working to process those payments as quickly as possible.”

Applying for rental assistance from the CARES Housing Assistance Program – both by tenants and landlords – can be done by clicking here. Eligible applicants must be able to show how they have been financially impacted by the pandemic and meet income requirements.

Shelter Realty is a Real Estate and Property Management Company specializing in the areas of Henderson, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, NV. Feel free to give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any questions you may have.

LAS VEGAS, NV – The eviction moratorium instituted and extended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is finally slated to come to an end on August 1, and while it will likely result in thousands of eviction cases for Nevada residents – as well as residents nationwide – what exactly will it mean for the landlords who have been chomping at the bit for over a year to finally get their properties back in their possession?

For landlords who are finally hoping for things to go back to pre-pandemic “normal,” they may find that they have a bit longer to wait due to actions by Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak and the State Legislature.

According to the Nevada State Apartment Association, courts have already processed large amounts of eviction paperwork filed in anticipation of the end of the CDC eviction ban, but landlords should expect the process of getting their soon-to-be former tenants out of their rentals to take some time and potentially, serious effort.

Simply put, every eviction will require constables to proceed with locking out the former tenants, and the massive tidal wave of evictions that are anticipated to come in August will stretch both the resources of said constables – as well as their ability to communicate with landlords over what units need attention – very thin.

With that being the case, the actual process of evicting everyone that requires it will already take an extended period of time over and above the norm; however a new law signed by Governor Sisolak could make that process take even longer to carry out.

The law – Assembly Bill 486 – protects tenants from eviction who have submitted an application for federal rental assistance until their application has been approved or denied by Clark County’s CARES Housing Assistance Program, a process which could take months.

In addition, renters are under no obligation to inform landlords that they have applied for rental assistance – or the status of their application – unless they are in the process of being evicted.

And finally, Nevada Assemblyman Howard Watts’ new law – Assembly Bill 141 – seals all eviction records due to non-payment of rent caused by pandemic-related financial hardship, making it more difficult for landlords to properly vet prospective new tenants.

While landlords may finally be seeing a light at the end of the tunnel in terms of the pandemic, they unfortunately may still have a ways yet to go before things get back to normal.

Shelter Realty is a Real Estate and Property Management Company specializing in the areas of Henderson, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, NV. Feel free to give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any questions you may have.

LAS VEGAS, NV – Amid a white-hot real estate marketplace, one of the fastest-growing areas of the Las Vegas rental business is turning out to be newly built single-family houses, and a local developer is jumping into it with both feet.

With plans for two projects already drawn up for a total of approximately 450 homes, The Calida Group is planning on constructing these rentals in the Cadence community, located in Henderson. Just over 400 of the homes are slated to be free-standing, while the remaining ones will be attached to townhouses, according to city records.

Calida has plans to break ground on the projects in Cadence – a 2,200-acre community off Lake Mead Parkway east of Boulder Highway – in the third quarter of 2022, and the planned homes will represent the company’s first-ever foray into newly-built, single-family rental tracts in the Southern Nevada region, with more to come in the future, co-founder Eric Cohen noted.

“We are planning many more,” he said.

With the recovery of Las Vegas’ economy and housing market after the mid-2000’s recession, the local rental marketplace exploded, and investors snapped up as many low-cost single-family houses as they could to turn into rental units. The market stalled temporarily during the COVID-19 pandemic, but as vaccination rates steadily grow the economy has continued to bounce back, making the demand for rentals in Vegas stronger than ever.

To satiate rental demand, developers such as Calida have been erecting as many apartments as they can; however, newly built single-family homes have been growing in popularity, and several companies have been jumping on the bandwagon as of late; Cohen noted that they are “one of the biggest requests we received” from his renters.

The demand for rental homes has – along with the rest of Las Vegas’ rental market – driven up rent prices across the board; according to reports, the average rent of a Vegas-based house jumped 17 percent from May 2020 to May 2021, and only continues to grow as more people flock to Nevada for an overall cheaper lifestyle.

Shelter Realty is a Real Estate and Property Management Company specializing in the areas of Henderson, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, NV. Feel free to give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any questions you may have.

LAS VEGAS, NV – Shaquille O’Neal, legendary professional basketball player, actor, and current sports analyst on TNT’s Inside the NBA has purchased a private 1-acre estate in the southeast valley for nearly $2 million, right after previously having sold the Southern Highlands residence he had bought prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

O’Neal, regarded as one of the greatest basketball players and centers of all time, has business dealings in Las Vegas, so owning a home in the region makes perfect sense. However, confusion surrounded the sale after the listing agent, Zar Zanganeh, initially issued a Facebook post on July 9 congratulating O’Neal and his realtor on the acquisition, only to turn around and later delete the post.

Upon being contacted by local Southern Nevada media, Zanganeh reportedly said that she was unable to disclose the buyer of the property, only saying that it was a long-time client and friend; however, neither she nor O’Neal’s personal realtor would deny that the basketball great was the buyer when asked.

The home, a 5,980 square-foot, two-story, five bedroom residence located east of Sunset Park, closed on July 9 for $1.95 million, and according to Clark County records, the buyer was Lester J. Knispel Trust and Chexy Trust, which has been previously utilized for Las Vegas real estate deals by O’Neal.

Meanwhile, O’Neal’s Turnberry Place condo – which was also listed under the trust’s name – was sold in February 2020 for $677,000, after previously being purchased for $670,000 in January 2019, records say.

While O’Neal spends the majority of his time working in Atlanta, Georgia on TNT’s Inside the NBA, the listing agent did note that her client intends to live in the southeast valley residence, confirming that it was not purchased for a relative or as a rental.

Other real estate deals that can be attributed O’Neal include a two-story, 5,440-square-foot Southern Highlands home that he bought in September $765,000, featuring a swim-up bar; Clark County property records listed the Shaquille O’Neal Revocable Trust as the owner, and the home was later sold on June 28 for $1 million.

O’Neal’s other dealings in Las Vegas include co-ownership of Big Chicken sandwich shop east of the Strip.

Photo: Shaquille “Shaq” O’Neal at the ‘Killer Bees’ New York Special Screening at Landmark 57 Theater on November 12, 2018 in New York City. File: Ron Adar, Shutterstock.com, licensed.

Shelter Realty is a Real Estate and Property Management Company specializing in the areas of Henderson, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, NV. Feel free to give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any questions you may have.

LAS VEGAS, NV – Thrive, a new townhouse complex in Summerlin, has exemplified the massive demand for housing options in Southern Nevada in a very eye-opening way- by completely selling out of all its units before the project has even broken ground.

Developer Edward Homes notes that Thrive isn’t actually slated to begin construction until August 1, which is situated along Charleston Boulevard, less than a mile west of Red Rock Resort. The project is anticipated to be finished by the first quarter of 2023, owner Brock Metzka says, but that still hasn’t stopped people from putting their hard-earned money down well in advance of move-in day.

“It was really fast,” Metzka said, noting that prior to the recent real estate boom in Las Vegas, he’s never completely sold out a planned development before it was even built.

The development was originally slated to be completed in phases, with the initial phase consisting of model homes to show off to prospective buyers. However, given the fact that all of the townhome units sold out in less than 90 days, such an approach was no longer necessary; instead, full-up construction of the entire community is now planned to commence in August.

Thrive, which will consist of 43 homes, sits on 2.6 acres of land in the Las Vegas Valley, sold out so quickly due to the massive demand for housing options in Southern Nevada these days, coupled with cheap loan options and a huge influx of out-of-state buyers who are flocking to the region for its blossoming economy, vibrant job market, and low cost of living when compared to many other parts of the country.

Located at the southwest corner of Charleston Boulevard and Plaza Centre Drive near the 215 Beltway, Thrive’s townhouses range in price from $440,000 to $550,000, with the higher-end residences coming in at three-stories. Many of the buyers hail from nearby California, according to Metzka, and most of them are paying cash.

Shelter Realty is a Real Estate and Property Management Company specializing in the areas of Henderson, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, NV. Feel free to give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any questions you may have.

LAS VEGAS, NV – The recent sale of a vacant plot of land in The Summit Club – a private community nestled between Red Rock National Conservation and the Las Vegas Strip – has raised eyebrows and broken records, as a wealthy buyer from California paid a whopping $36 million for four separate parcels upon which they reportedly plan to construct a lavish estate.

The purchase overshadows even the impressive $25 million sale of a new home in MacDonald Highlands in Henderson this past June by billionaire Loan Depot founder Anthony Hsieh.

The Summit Club purchase, which closed June 15, was traced back to a buyer listed as Sunlight LLC, whose address is registered in both Nevada and California as that of a tax firm in Palo Alto. The individual buyer, if there was one, was not listed by name.

Of the four parcels of Summit Club land sold to the buyer, three of them were purchased from the Discovery Land Company, A company that originally developed the 555-acre Summit Club, as well as the Howard Hughes Corporation, the developer of Summerlin. The three parcels combined features a total of 3.7 acres of land worth $32.25 million, Clark County property records state.

The fourth and final parcel of land purchased in the deal was sold by KAHO 21 LLC, as per Clark County property records, and came in at 0.77 acres and cost $3.75 million.

The Summit Club would not comment on the record-breaking purchase to local Las Vegas media, but a real estate expert noted that it’s practically unheard of for a buyer – most likely a billionaire – to pay such an incredible amount of money for parcels of land that they intended to build a home upon.

The sale caps off an impressive June for the Las Vegas luxury real estate market; according to experts, the highest amount paid in the last 30 years for home and land was $17.5 million, but last month alone Vegas has now seen sales of $25 million for a home and $36 million for land. What will the future bring?

Shelter Realty is a Real Estate and Property Management Company specializing in the areas of Henderson, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, NV. Feel free to give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any questions you may have.

LAS VEGAS, NV – Low inventory and high demand of apartment units in the Las Vegas Valley are causing rents to skyrocket to near record-breaking levels, a sign of Nevada’s economic recovery as COVID-19 ebbs into its final days. However, the continuing increases in rent in Clark County has come with a downside as well; hardship for some vulnerable local area residents who may have already been having difficulty keeping up with their payments due to the pandemic.

Rents in Las Vegas, while still well below the national average – as of June 2021, the average rent in the Las Vegas Valley was $1,591, whereas the national average is $1,799 – are nonetheless currently increasing at a faster rate than any other large U.S. metro area. Out of the top 50 U.S. metro areas, the speed of Vegas’ rent increases was at the top of the list, with a jump of 3.6 percent from May to June, which equates to approximately $55. Year-over-year from February 2020 to February 2021, Las Vegas rents have surged almost 20 percent, or $260.

Some Clark County tenants are reporting that they’re seeing their monthly rent jumping by as much as $200 or $300. For some – especially many seniors who are on fixed incomes – sudden increases this large can cause financial struggle and force people to cut difficult corners to get by.

Demand is seen as the main driving force behind the rent acceleration; with the pandemic dying down, businesses are hiring again, people are getting jobs, and new college graduates are entering the workforce heading out on their own for the first time. Rents are reportedly growing quickly throughout the country, but again, currently Vegas lays claim to the fastest rates of them all.

And experts are predicting this trend will continue as the country opens up and the economy recovers, but developers in Las Vegas who are hard at work on building several new apartment complexes are expected to help stabilize rents as more units are made available to satisfy demand.

Shelter Realty is a Real Estate and Property Management Company specializing in the areas of Henderson, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, NV. Feel free to give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any questions you may have.

LAS VEGAS, NV – A huge apartment building slated to open just south of the famed Las Vegas Strip by the end of 2021, is expected to add more options to the cityscape for people looking for homes to rent near the very heart of Vegas.

Ariva – a 754-unit complex situated several miles off of the west side of Las Vegas Boulevard and just north of Starr Avenue – is currently in the midst of construction efforts, and the initial phase of its development is slated to be open by the end of the year, with the remaining portion of the building expected to be completed at some point in 2023, reports say.

In addition to rental units, Ariva is also planned to encompass approximately 75,000 square-feet of space for retail establishments, restaurants, and office space; this aspect of the complex is expected to be completed before the residential units, according to the developer.

Ariva is located in a less-developed area consisting mostly of tracts of desert, in contrast to the hustle and bustle of the Las Vegas Strip; however, this part of Vegas is seeing more and more investors snapping up land and developing housing projects to accommodate the huge demands of the local real estate industry.

Owned by Silicon Valley-based WTI Inc., Ariva will feature a number of amenities for its residents, including four pools, a yoga studio, basketball and volleyball courts, dog parks, and a sky deck that will offer views of the Las Vegas valley, the developer says.

Another nearby project in the works is Mosaic, a 797-unit townhouse complex off Las Vegas Boulevard at St. Rose Parkway, which offers units in the price range of $260,000 to the low $300,000-range. The developer reports they have already closed on 240 of the units available, with over 200 more currently on their waiting list.

Shelter Realty is a Real Estate and Property Management Company specializing in the areas of Henderson, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, NV. Feel free to give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any questions you may have.

LAS VEGAS, NV – According to reports, Ascaya – a master-planned luxury community located in Henderson that was formed by blasting 15 million cubic yards out of a mountain range – has seen sales on-pace to double their number this year when compared to 2020, a year when sales profits were already at a level that were three times higher than they were throughout the previous three years.

Among the recent new buyers of land in Ascaya is Mark Davis, owner of the Las Vegas Raiders NFL team, who purchased a 6-acre plot to construct his custom home featuring views of Allegiant Stadium, his team’s home base.

And according to the developer, the number one draw of Ascaya is the community’s breathtaking views of the surrounding region; in addition, it also features a $25 million clubhouse and a two-acre park currently in the works.

The majority of sales in Ascaya have consisted of vacant lots upon which buyers have been building their own homes to their personal specifications; a small number of sales have been made up of speculative-built homes, reports say.

Currently, the developer of Ascaya – Henry Cheng, a Hong Kong billionaire and owner of NWS Holdings Ltd. – has closed over $38 million in sales in 2021 alone, with an additional $8 million in sales currently under contract. This is in stark contrast to the dismal rate of sales when the community essentially “stalled” due to the housing crash of the mid-2000’s, or even when it re-opened in 2014.

However, with the recent recovery of the Southern Nevada economy and housing market, Ascaya has attracted a new breed of upscale clientele who were attracted by low mortgage rates and the greater bang for their buck Las Vegas afforded them. With that being the case, Ascaya has seen its growth explode over the past year or so.

Ascaya currently features over 300 homesites, and homes that are constructed there are mandated to be of at least 4,500 square-feet in size, according to the developer. Currently, 26 new homes have been built, 18 are currently being constructed, and 21 are in the planning stages.

Shelter Realty is a Real Estate and Property Management Company specializing in the areas of Henderson, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, NV. Feel free to give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any questions you may have.

LAS VEGAS, NV – According to the Eviction Lab at Princeton University, Clark County, Nevada is potentially facing more evictions than any other area in the United States when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) eviction moratorium ends July 31, reports say.

The Eviction Lab at Princeton University, according to their website, “creates data, interactive tools, and research to help neighbors and policymakers understand the eviction crisis.” They analyzed data of the average number of eviction filings in Clark County between the years of 2016 and 2019 and compared them to ones filed between January 2020 and May 2021. This was done in order to see how the COVID-19 pandemic had impacted the impending slew of evictions that are expected to hit once the CDC’s moratorium expires at the end of the month.

The findings were eye-opening, and indicated that between March 15, 2020, and May 27, 2021, landlords and property managers in Clark County had filed a whopping 22,400 eviction cases, which the Eviction Lab noted was the most out of any comparably-sized region they have examined in the country.

One place in the country that comes closer than others to Clark County’s numbers during the same period of time is Dallas County, Texas, which saw 18,600 eviction filings; meanwhile in Clark County, 4,559 evictions were filed in November alone, which the Eviction Lab said was twice the average number for Southern Nevada.

The emotional and financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has caused immeasurable hardship on renters who have been unable to make their monthly payments. However, it could be argued that an even greater one has been shouldered by the landlords and property owners who have been forced by repeated local and federal mandates to essentially provide free room and board for their tenants, even for those who may simply be taking advantage of the system.

One thing is for sure; when the CDC eviction moratorium ends July 31, there will be a massive eviction crisis across the United States.

Shelter Realty is a Real Estate and Property Management Company specializing in the areas of Henderson, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, NV. Feel free to give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any questions you may have.

LAS VEGAS, NV – The house selling boom that’s taken the nation – and particularly Las Vegas – in its iron grip since the COVID-19 pandemic has begun easing off has finally begun to show some early signs of stabilizing and cooling down, despite the fact that many new homes introduced to the market are still being snatched up at an incredibly quick pace, reports say.

In Southern Nevada, sales of homes have started to drop ever so slightly over the course of the past few months and the number of available homes on the market has started to build; however, this doesn’t mean that the Las Vegas real estate scene has hit a plateau at all, since the houses that are being sold are still being gobbled up lightning fast.

Reports indicate that approximately 87 percent of previously owned single-family homes that were sold in the month of May had only been listed on the open market for 30 days or less; this represents a significant increase from the sales figures from January, when that number was at 64 percent.

Las Vegas’ real estate market has continued to grow over the past few months, as shown by fast sales and quickly escalating prices, spurred on by low mortgage rates that allow buyers to get more for their money. Regardless, the competition has been fierce, to the point that simply offering the initial asking price on a home is no longer a viable option; typically, the successful buys as of late have paid more.

However, experts are having trouble predicting where Las Vegas’ housing market will ultimately end up as the pandemic slowly comes to an end and the city’s tourism industry finally begins to heat up once again.

Despite the market showing signs of becoming more stable after skyrocketing for months, it nonetheless is still breaking records; the median sale price of a single-family home in May broke the all-time record at $385,000, and the overall inventory of available houses – despite increasing recently – is still low, with the end of May seeing only 2,031 homes for sale without offers.

So while there are a slightly smaller amount of people buying homes at the moment, those that are doing so are still grabbing them at a frantic rate.

Shelter Realty is a Real Estate and Property Management Company specializing in the areas of Henderson, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, NV. Feel free to give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any questions you may have.