Median Home Price in Las Vegas Sets Yet Another Record Despite Ongoing Pandemic

LAS VEGAS, NV – According to recent reports, the median price of single family homes in Las Vegas has managed to set yet another record in September 2020, despite the continued presence of COVID-19.

Despite the extraordinarily hard hits that the Southern Nevada tourism-driven economy has taken due to roadblocks presented by COVID, home prices in the region continued their upward climb in defiance of the circumstances, reports say.

The median sales price of previously owned single-family homes, which constitutes the bulk of the Vegas market, reached $337,250 in September, representing an increase of 0.7 percent from August, a month in which a previous record was established. In addition, the amount represented a jump of 8.8 percent from September 2019.

The volume of sales was impressive as well, with 3,270 being sold in September, an increase of 12.4 percent from the previous month and 18.9 percent from September 2019. Indeed, despite the potential hazards presented by COVID, people are not being deterred from seeking out and purchasing homes in Las Vegas.

These sales figures were likely helped by the fact that the current inventory of available homes in Las Vegas has increased, giving buyers a wider selection to choose from. The number of homes up for grabs in Vegas in September was increased by 3.4 percent over August for a total of 4,798.

The Las Vegas housing market has been on fire in recent months, with buyers in need of places to live braving potential illness in order to secure lodging during a period of time where record-low interest rates on loans provide an irresistible lure. In addition, local real estate agents have evolved with the times, providing safe alternatives to doing business that include setting up online tours of properties and using video conferencing.

These factors, when combined with Las Vegas’ low cost of living, have enabled the local real estate market to bounce back from the pandemic much faster than experts had predicted.

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, President Trump – fresh off a brief stay at Walter Reed Military Medical Center for successful treatment of his recent COVID-19 infection – announced via Twitter that he had instructed his aides to cease all negotiations with Democrats over a new Coronavirus relief bill until after the election, an act that surprised many who were expecting a new bill to hopefully be signed soon.

The move will delay additional stimulus measures such as federal unemployment insurance and stimulus checks, and could spell additional economic hardship for millions who have lost their jobs or were furloughed due to the ongoing pandemic. People who have already been fighting to stay in their homes – and landlords who haven’t been getting paid rent – and were relying on the passage of another wave of financial relief will now face a potentially grim reality until government-mandated eviction moratoriums eventually end.

In Las Vegas, Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak signed an extension to the moratorium on residential non payment of rent evictions related to COVID-19 through October 15, however, an additional extension signed by Trump back in September increases eviction protections until the end of the year for non payment of rents. So, while tenants that are unable to make their rent obligations could potentially be safe until 2021, landlords – who face their own financial obligations – will likely be left out in the cold, as the cessation of any relief negotiations until after the election will only mean that rents will continue to not be paid.

Trump has blamed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for the stalled negotiations, with the two parties far apart on the final numbers of the bill and the amount of support needed. The President stated via Twitter that “after I win the election, I will sign a massive Stimulus Bill that focuses on hardworking Americans and Small Business.”

However, some have seen this announcement – which is proving to be unpopular – as a potential blow not only to the president’s hopes for re-election, but those of GOP House and Senate members as well.

“Waiting until after the election to reach an agreement on the next COVID-19 relief package is a huge mistake,” said Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine, who is up for re-election in November. “I have already been in touch with the Secretary of the Treasury, one of the chief negotiators, and with several of my Senate colleagues.”

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell warned this week that the country’s economic recovery is still in a fragile state and requires additional economic stimulus.

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, in anticipation of his NFL teams move to their new home in Las Vegas for the 2020 football season onward, Raiders owner Mark Davis has recently purchased a plot of land in the Henderson mountains – a spot upon which he plans to construct a lavish home – for a whopping $6 million.

Previously, Davis had purchased a smaller 1.2-acre lot in 2017 – for $8.5 million – upon which to construct a home in The Summit Club, a luxury golf course community in Summerlin. However, he abandoned those plans in August of this year, selling the original plot of land for $10.5 million and then closing on the Henderson deal, a development that he only just recently revealed to the media.

Why the change of location? Simple, he said – his original location in Summerlin offered him no direct line-of-sight views of the Raiders’ new home – Allegiant Stadium – which was “starting to drive me crazy,” he said. Clearly, this is a man who takes his profession seriously.

To give himself a clear view of the newly-constructed home stadium of his well-known NFL team, Davis bought the 6.3-acre plot of land in the Ascaya, a community that was carved out of the McCullough Range via explosives by a Hong Kong developer and subsequently sat vacant throughout the mid-2000’s recession before getting a new lease on life as a home for wealthy individuals and families.

His new location – the Ascaya community – also keeps him in the vicinity of the Raiders’ Henderson-based practice facility and headquarters; once his condo’s construction is completed upon the new plot of land, Davis will enjoy not only spectacular views of the Las Vegas Strip but also Allegiant Stadium.

“I’m getting the best of both worlds,” Davis said.

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 – An executive order recently signed into effect by U.S. President Donald Trump that prevents evictions until December 31 for Americans directly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic has been challenged by a lawsuit filed in federal court. The New Civil Liberties Alliance, a public interest pro bono law firm, has filed the suit on behalf of numerous landlords nationwide, including the members of the Nevada State Apartment Association, according to recent reports.

Filed this week, the lawsuit is challenging President Trump’s executive order, which currently enables the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) the authority to prevent evictions based the increased risk of exposure and transmission of COVID-19 by individuals and families that may find themselves homeless due to financial issues encountered as a result of the ongoing pandemic.

Trump’s order puts the brakes on any evictions of U.S. citizens who are experiencing financial issues due to COVID, provided they meet certain criteria and sign a declaration form.

The lawsuit filed by the New Civil Liberties Alliance states that Trump’s order has unfairly placed a financial burden on landlords and does not provide renters and landlords with any financial assistance. One of the plaintiffs listed in the lawsuit is the Nevada State Apartment Association, which is a member of the National Apartment Association.

Nevada State Apartment Association executive director Susy Vasquez stated that her members are reaching the very end of their collective financial rope by being forced to provide free lodging for tenants while still expected to carry out regular maintenance duties.

“We have been able to provide housing through this entire pandemic, but it is not sustainable,” she said. “There is a point where we can’t continue to provide free housing.  The Nevada State Apartment Association supports court mediation, financial aid, payment plans and other resources as solutions.”

Vasquez also noted that the Nevada’s own eviction moratorium, which was recently extended to October 15 by Governor Steve Sisolak, has created financial hardship for landlords across the state. The CDC is required to respond to the lawsuit by Friday, Oct. 2.

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 mansion located in Henderson-based Lake Las Vegas recently sold for $6.5 million, fetching the highest sale price for a home in the master-planned community since 2007, according to recent reports. The 8,838-square-foot home is the first luxury residence to be built and sold in Lake Las Vegas by developer Raintree Investment Corporation on behalf of landowner John Paulson.

The home, located at 23 Summer House Drive in a new housing development called Estates at Reflection Bay, boasts 300 feet of waterfront property with a private sandy beach and “outstanding” views, according to a listing on real estate website Zillow. The $6.5 million price tag represents the highest amount paid for a dwelling in the area since 2007.

Raintree will not continue to construct homes in the Lake Las Vegas region; instead, they developed the initial offering to serve as an inspiration to those wishing to move into the community, and instead will be allowing interested parties to purchase lots of land to build their own homes upon. Several lots have closed escrow or are under contract to sell, reports say.

Lake Las Vegas is comprised of a 320-acre artificial lake and 3,600-acre developed area around the lake, located off Lake Mead Parkway east of Boulder Highway. The community features numerous mansions, upscale hotels, golfing and retail establishments. It is being developed by five companies and includes three resorts such as the Aston MonteLago Village Resort, the Westin Lake Las Vegas Resort, and the Hilton Lake Las Vegas.

Currently, the population of Lake Las Vegas comes in at approximately 20,678 within 7,934 households. Home prices vary from lows of $135,000 for a studio condominium to highs of $1,400,000 or more for a four bedroom, five bathroom, fully furnished lakeside home.

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 recent reports, a Las Vegas developer is attempting to woo wealthy potential tenants to his new apartment complex by making sure it features numerous amenities catering to a particular crowd; this runs in contrast with how the majority of Nevada developers are handling new projects due to the difficulties posed by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

With unemployment still an issue, many people are in need of affordable living space but are facing significant financial hurdles. But while many are racing to construct low-cost housing options aimed at the masses, long-time developer Bob Schulman, 83, is instead going in the opposite direction and aiming his apartments at affluent individuals.

Schulman’s 220-unit South Beach complex, which he sold for $62 million in 2018, boasted a slew of fancy options for tenants, including indoor and outdoor gyms, steam and sauna rooms, poolside cabanas, sand volleyball, a basketball court and a soccer field. Now the developer has opened a new apartment complex that once again caters to high-end clientele, taking a risk due to the fact that COVID-19 has had a definite negative impact upon the rental scene in Southern Nevada.

The 304-unit Tuscan Highlands is Schulman’s new establishment, located in the south end of the Las Vegas valley, and includes numerous luxury amenities aimed at a well-to-do younger set, including an esports lounge, sport court, restaurant, wine garden, rock climbing tower, gym and spa, soundproof studio, and even special tenant lockers for grocery delivery that are temperature-controlled. It also includes a fitness director on-staff and charges tenants a $125 monthly “resort fee” to assist with the costs of extras.

The developer originally broke ground on the complex in early 2019, before the local economy was ravaged by the pandemic; however, despite initial fears over how COVID-19 would affect rentals, Schulman reports that multiple apartments at Tuscan Highlands – where rent ranges from $1,275 to $3,800 per month – have been leased, with 78 of the 304 units currently occupied and climbing.

Clearly, despite the economic uncertainty out there these days, there are still people that can afford the finer things in life.

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 – An elaborate Tuscan-style home featuring a unique rooftop observation tower that its owner originally purchased to remind herself of her Mediterranean upbringing has just been listed on the Las Vegas marketplace for $4.85 million, according to recent reports.

Demetria Robertson, the owner of the Southern Highlands Country Club-based residence, noted that her attraction to what she referred to as “traditional Italian craftsmanship” drove her and her family to purchase the villa – located at 2 Olympia Hills Circle (MLS# 2213502) – over two years ago.

The 9,741-square-foot house – situated on nearly an acre, which provides a great deal of privacy – features a sizable interior courtyard which includes a water fountain and fireplace, offering a “traditional Tuscan villa experience” in a park-like setting, according to Robertson.

“You are immediately ushered into the open courtyard, which is fully enclosed in the home. It is square and nearly every aspect of the house is connected to it,” she said. “Our home has lots of windows and light streams in through the courtyard. It really gives the gift of light to the home.”

The house has five bedrooms with outdoor patios and balconies and seven baths, as well as a large pool and spa area adorned with large statues.

The home boasts a number of lush, detailed design aesthetics reminiscent of those you’d encounter in a traditional Italian setting, such as crafted stonework, mosaic tiles, and marble. However, the main draw to its design is centered around the so-called “watch tower,” which is a one-of-a-kind rooftop-based observation tower that allows for breathtaking 360-degree views of the surrounding Las Vegas Valley.

“It is a wonderful way to get away and kind of see the whole Vegas Valley from a higher vantage point,” Robertson said. “If you look out you can see the main Strip, the Southern Highlands development. On the other side, you get all of the golf course and the mountains. It is a wonderful beautiful collage of the sights in our valley.”

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 – Basketball legend Shaquille “Shaq” O’Neal has purchased a $765,000 Las Vegas home to have a residence near his popular restaurant Big Chicken on the Strip, which he originally opened on the famed Las Vegas Strip two years ago, according to reports.

O’Neal, 48, recently put his current residence – a 31,000-square-foot Florida mansion with an outdoor basketball court and pool – on the market for a whopping $19.5 million, so it would appear that his new Las Vegas residence would represent a downgrade from his current digs.

The new two-story, 5,400 square-foot home – located south of the Strip in a guard-gated community – is quite the high-end residence, and effectively illustrates the more affordable cost of living in Nevada when compared to many other states.

O’Neal’s new home features five bedrooms and four bathrooms, along with a fireplace, granite kitchen, and two-story family and living rooms. The upstairs also boasts lavish amenities, including a master bedroom with a double-sided fireplace separating it from the bathroom. In addition, there is a second-story loft overlooking the main living room.

The backyard is equally impressive, with a deck and covered patio, tiki-style cabana, a bridge that connects into a spa and a pool decked out with a fountain and a swim-up bar.

Stacy Conner of Windermere Prestige Properties represented O’Neal. Sherwin Escanuela of Huntington & Ellis held the listing.

O’Neal is a former professional basketball player and currently works as a sports analyst on the television program Inside the NBA on TNT. He is widely considered one of the greatest players in National Basketball Association (NBA) history, and at 7 foot, 1 inch tall and 325 pounds, was one of the tallest and heaviest players ever. O’Neal played for six teams over his 19-year career.

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 – With the controversial extension of the Nevada eviction moratorium issued last month by Governor Steve Sisolak due to finally come to an end come October 15, state officials have announced that ample aid for both landlords and tenants beleaguered by difficult circumstances brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic will be made available as soon as possible.

A second batch of funding – a total of $60M – has been granted to Clark County, with both tenants and landlords eligible to get a cut, officials recently revealed. However, according to State Treasurer Zach Conine, that funding – while significant – nonetheless amounts to a mere band-aid as it relates to the ongoing financial distress many are in due to the pandemic.

“Sixty million dollars is a big number, but let’s be clear: we think the problem is a lot more significant than that,” he said. “Our goal for these new assistance programs as we roll them out is to make sure they have a lot of people involved for bandwidth, and try to make the program as quick and effective as possible.”

In order to keep aid coming, Conine noted that state officials are continually lobbying Congress for more assistance. In addition, the State Treasurer’s office will lend aid to the Nevada Supreme Court as it relates to new mediation programs, which will attempt to help landlords and tenants to come together and work out payment plan options for back rent and/or mortgage payments.

Governor Sisolak, in recent interviews, has expressed hope that the state will be able to make the additional rental assistance funding available to Nevada residents affected by COVID-19 in time for the current eviction moratorium deadline of October 15.

However, some Nevada landlords have expressed a lack of confidence in state government’s ability to roll out the promised assistance in time, citing numerous delays with previous rounds of rental assistance as well as state’s continuing backlog of unemployment claims. 

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 news reports, business magnate, industrial designer, engineer, and philanthropist Elon Musk’s The Boring Company has been making rapid progress as of late on its Las Vegas “people mover” system, with the tunnel-based self-driving car transport system nearly complete.

After a year of construction, Musk confirmed this week via Twitter that the ambitious project will be finished shortly.

“Tunnels under cities with self-driving electric cars will feel like warp drive,” he tweeted. “First operational tunnel under Vegas almost done.”

A people mover is a type of small scale automated guide-way transit – utilizing self-driving, all-electric Tesla vehicles – that will service the Las Vegas Convention Center via twin tunnels, and was originally slated to be completed in time for the January 2021 Consumer Electronics Show; however, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event has since been changed to online-only this year.

The Tesla vehicles that the people mover will utilize have a capacity of 16 passengers and there will be 62 vehicles in use at the time it opens to the public.

However, that isn’t the end of The Boring Company’s ambitions in Las Vegas; Musk has stated that he is envisioning on extending the tunnel to the north end of the Las Vegas Strip to also serve Wynn Resorts’ Encore and Resorts World; the so-called “Vegas Loop” was confirmed by Clark County Commissioner Tick Segerblom via Twitter.

The people mover, in its current form, encompasses two miles from end to end, and is expected to make negotiating the vast Las Vegas Convention Center complex far more manageable for the estimated one million people who visit the site on an annual basis. Upon completion of the $52.5 million project, each tunnel will be one-way and will whisk up to 4,400 attendees per hour from Convention Center’s South Hall across the 200-acre campus, free of charge.

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 recent reports, the city council of Las Vegas is considering beefing up enforcement of penalties imposed upon apartment buildings and hotels that are considered “dangerous” due to repeated code violations.

The proposals, which are expected to be heard today, came to be following outrage over a fire in December at the Alpine Motel Apartments that took the lives of six people and injured an additional 13. The Alpine had a history of coming up short in terms of safety inspections, and had not been inspected for over two years prior to the deadly fire, reports say. The Alpine was inspected after the fire, at which time officials discovered 42 fire code violations.

The new program to be proposed on Wednesday by the city council, if approved, would focus on aging properties – often catering to low-income families – that are considered dangerous due to potential fire hazards and inadequate fire safety equipment, and would strengthen an existing program introduced in 2017.

The scope of the program would be expanded as well. Currently, the safety program only applies to apartment complexes with at least five units; if passed by the city council, the amended program would lower that number to at least four units, which would add coverage to an additional 1,110 apartment buildings.

Fires in apartments have been a serious issue in recent years, with 16 people perishing in blazes since 2015. Part of the reason for the death toll and the push to address it is because current state law does not mandate that older buildings adhere to newer safety protocols as they are adopted for newer construction. As a result, older complexes tend to be at greater risk of fires if those running them elect not to upgrade as new fire safety regulations are signed into law.

An example of an older establishment being a particular danger in terms of fire safety is the Alpine, which did not possess a sprinkler system, having originally been constructed in 1972.

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 – Andrew “Dice” Clay, the legendary comedian who rose to prominence in the late 1980s with a brash, macho, persona known as “The Diceman” and in 1990 became the first stand-up comedian to sell out Madison Square Garden for two consecutive nights, recently put his Las Vegas home up for sale for just one dollar short of a cool million.

Listing for $999,999 and originally built in 1968, the Nevada Rancho Estates-based “lucky house,” which he has owned for the past 19 years, has been used relatively little by the comedian during the COVID-19 pandemic, with Clay spending the majority of his time split between his New York and Los Angeles residences.

The home, located at 121 Stonewood Court on a half-acre plot of land at the end of a cul-de-sac, is situated within the Alta Rancho historic district, which is a guard-gated community. It is a one-story ranch-style house coming in at 4,461 square feet in size and has five bedrooms; three full bathrooms, and an additional two half-bathrooms. It boasts numerous high-end amenities, such as a large backyard with a heated pool and spa, extensive landscaping, and more.

The home has been renovated with new plumbing, floors, carpeting, and granite and reflects a “vintage, nostalgic” design aesthetic reminiscent of the late 1960s and early 1970s, according to Realtor Rob Wilner, the listing agent. Clay himself spoke of the home and the great time he had there entertaining his many celebrity friends and acquaintances.

“It has that Vegas feel,” he said. “It has a step-down living room, step-down dining room and step-down bar where we had a blast there all of these years. We had parties all the time with my friends in Vegas with Criss Angel, Tom Green and Wayne Newton. Michael Imperioli from ‘The Sopranos’ would come over when he was in town. We hung out after my shows late at night. It was a great hang and party place. It has that big, open hangout where the bar is and a giant pool. We had so much fun there.”

At age 62, Clay continues to tour and perform stand-up, and has appeared in several films and TV shows, including roles in Woody Allen’s “Blue Jasmine” and Bradley Cooper’s “A Star Is Born.”

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.