Las Vegas Home Prices Continue to Climb, Expected to Reach Pre-Recession Peak This Year

LAS VEGAS, NV – Las Vegas real estate has continued to astound the nation, with demand – and prices – still climbing ever since Southern Nevada spectacularly rebounded from the devastating recession of the mid-2000’s. Properties that were previously vacant and unwanted are now being snatched up at a record pace, and according to experts those prices will soon reach levels the region has not seen in over a decade, with no signs of slowing down.

2018 could very well see Las Vegas home prices, which have been rising steadily due to ever-increasing demand, reach their pre-recession peak; media house prices hit their zenith in 2006, coming in at $315,000, but after the housing bubble burst in 2012, that price dropped drastically- all the way down to $118,000.

The Vegas market is currently zeroing in on those pre-recession numbers. For instance, May of 2018 saw the median sales price of single family homes coming in at $295,000, which represents an increase of 2.1 percent from April and a jump of 18 percent from the same period one year prior.

The median sales price of previously owned single-family homes was $295,000 last month, up 2.1 percent from April and 18 percent from May 2017, according to the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors (GLVAR). In addition, the number of homes sold increased from April to May – 3,140, up 9.1 percent. This showcases the rapid and continuing growth of the Vegas real estate market, although the increasing scarcity of inventory in 2018 is resulting in a slightly lower number of sales when compared to April of 2017, which saw an additional 10.7 percent in sales over this past April.

However, the amount of homes on the market has been steadily increasing as construction has been working overtime to meet the wants of new transplants to Nevada seeking job opportunities and an affordable lifestyle, in addition to more investors putting their properties up for sale. At the end of May 2018, 4,118 homes were for sale without offers, an increase of 7.9 percent from the month before; however, that number is still down 17.2 percent from May of 2017, showing that inventory is still not quite matching demand yet.

The ever-increasing home prices in Las Vegas are functioning as a double-edged sword; property owners and investors are accumulating a great deal of money as homes sell, but with the increasing number of new residents in the region looking for homes, a question of affordability will soon figure into the equation. Experts, however, don’t foresee any price decline in the Vegas real estate market over the course of the next several years, although some are hoping for price growth to at least slow down to a degree that goes more in line with the income level of local residents. Achieving that slower price growth will be possible, experts say, when local Vegas construction projects introduces more housing units upon the market – slightly curbing demand and giving buyers more options – anticipated to happen in 2019.

If you are considering relocating in or around the Las Vegas area, which clearly is experiencing huge growth and a booming job market,  give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any real estate and home relocation questions you may have.

LAS VEGAS, NV – For years, the blighted downtown area of North Las Vegas has stood in stark contrast to the glitzier areas of the city as a whole, but along with the resurgence of the local economy, job and real estate market, this neglected region of Southern Nevada is poised for a comeback of epic proportions…and the first step has already began as a new 14-screen movie theater in the middle of one of the region’s many vacant dirt lots has taken ground; a sign of better things to come for an area that has endured a great deal in the past decade or so.

For a number of years, a prominent part of North Vegas’ downtown area has consisted of abandoned storefronts and large, vacant dirt lots, and its overall reputation was essentially the part of town one should strive to avoid. Local government have been working on redevelopment efforts, first by approving a larger fiscal budget in order to restore vital services and manpower positions lost during the recession brought on by the housing bubble burst that occurred in the mid-2000’s. As a result of the city’s $601.2 million 2018-2019 budget, North Las Vegas has announced plans to hire as many as 29 employees on a full-time basis; this marks the second year in a row that North Vegas has made headway in their efforts to grow and enhance their workforce.

Meanwhile, development of the new $75 million, two-story, 65,000 square-feet movie theater – dubbed the Maya Entertainment Center, and located across the street from North Las Vegas City Hall – is expected to be open by Christmas of 2018, and is intended to attract, in part, Las Vegas’ increasing Latino population. The project is seen as the starting point of an overall revitalization of the downtown area that city officials are currently tentatively referring to as Lake Mead Village West.

And on White Street just a few blocks away, city officials are in the process of starting to convert an abandoned Canyon Electric Building into a 7,000 square-foot library, a process that so far is being funded via a $1.2 million federal community block grant.

In addition, the North Las Vegas Redevelopment Agency – part of the City Council – previously purchased a 3.65-acre plot of land at the corner of Las Vegas and Lake Mead boulevards in 2017; this acquisition, along with other neighboring properties that the city owns, essentially fits together to form a 10-acre piece of land that is intended to be the site of a yet-undisclosed large-scale master planned project, with the goal being to attract retail stores, restaurants, a library, and more, transforming the area and raising the standard of living.

Thus far, North Las Vegas’ downtown region has lagged behind the growth and resurgence experienced by Las Vegas as a whole in the last few years, but it appears that city officials finally have a solid plan to putting it back on the map and are taking the first tentative steps to making that achievement a reality.

If you are considering relocating in or around the Las Vegas area, which clearly is experiencing huge growth and a booming job market,  give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any real estate and home relocation questions you may have.

LAS VEGAS, NV – With the recent economic upturn experienced by Las Vegas – fueled by an ongoing real estate boom, massive job growth as a result of an influx of new businesses and tourism increasing, and a more affordable cost of living, among other factors – the region has become quite attractive for location-first movers, with a recent study noting that Vegas currently claims the largest percentage of them in the nation. Location-first movers are defined as an individual or family that makes their selection in purchasing a home on the attractiveness of living in a specific area, sometimes before even securing a job there.

Apartment List noted in their study that a whopping 82 percent of movers selected Las Vegas based on numerous factors related to the lifestyle of the region, without even having secured a job before doing so. This is a huge number, and it far outpaces the number two location-first area in the U.S., Phoenix, which comes in at 69 percent.

These decisions are typically driven by a number of reasons related to living in Southern Nevada, including the general lower cost of living when compared to many other neighboring areas. A good example is the large amount of transplants from California, a state revered for its wealth and glamour, but infamous for its extreme cost of living; there has been a recent glut of movers from California to Vegas for the overall cheaper lifestyle, including the price of homes. While property values in Vegas have been steadily climbing due to incredible demand and lack of supply, they are still much lower, proportionally speaking, than in California; while local home values have risen 12.4 percent in the last 12 months, the median home price is still $230,800… this is in stark contrast to California, where the average price is $542,900, well over double. And although Las Vegas itself does have a sales tax of 8.15 percent, that number is nicely counteracted by the fact that Nevada has no state sales tax and very low property taxes.

Again, the reasons for this are clear- Vegas currently has an exploding job market that is offering a record number of placements for people both with and without college degrees; in addition, the revitalization that is taking place in the downtown area is not only offering additional employment opportunities, but it’s also offering an enticing number of entertainment options for local residents who are always on the lookout for something fun and exciting to do. And when they tire of the bright lights and big city, newcomers to Vegas can venture just out of town to experience the vast natural beauty that Nevada offers in abundance.

In addition, the rental market is also thriving and attracting similar numbers of location-first movers, at well over 60 percent; the closest competitor in this regard is San Antonio, with the rest of the field lagging well behind. And while again, demand and scarcity are in the process of driving up prices – currently, a one-bedroom apartment fetches an average of $910, with two bedrooms going for $1,130, with a year-over-year growth of 3.8 percent – but again, the overall lower cost of living, combined with a flourishing job market and numerous attractions and amenities afforded by life in Southern Nevada, have made Vegas THE place to call home these days.

LAS VEGAS, NV – Area 15, a new 126,000-square-foot science-fiction themed retail and entertainment complex slated to offer an “immersive” environment for attendees, officially broke ground on construction on last week with a scheduled opening date of spring of 2019, according to reports.

The complex, located on a 40 acre lot in the vicinity of the Las Vegas Strip on the corner of Sirius Avenue and Rancho Drive, is a joint venture between real estate development firm Fisher Brothers and creative agency Beneville Studios, both based out of New York. Area 15 – the name obviously being a playful take on the infamous Area 51, a secret U.S. Air Force base located in the Nevada desert – is expected to attract a variety of visitors by means of a unique mix of conventions and expos focusing on sci-fi, fantasy, and comic books; in addition, music performances, corporate events, large-scale art exhibits, bars, nightclubs, and restaurants are expected to round out the package. Retail will also have a footprint at the new facility, although details on that aspect has yet to be made public by Fisher and Beneville, aside from announcing it as being a “radical re-imagining” of the concept of both retail and entertainment.

A major anchor tenant in the form of Meow Wolf – a multimedia production company that specializes in creating interactive experiences combining real-world sets and architecture with virtual reality and specialized sound – announced their signing and involvement in the Area 15 project, and it’s likely going to be the first of many, given the facility’s 68,000 square feet of leasable ground floor space, 58,000 square feet of mezzanines and a 40,000-square-foot indoor-outdoor event area that can accommodate up to 3,000 attendees for a variety of event types, including music performances and festivals, corporate shin-digs, and international video game tournaments, among more. Plans are to host over 100 events a year, with parking in the form of over 800 complimentary spots available for attendees.

The Area 15 project is slated to be an “evolution” of the concept of the American shopping mall; with the average attendance at malls down by shoppers in favor of buying items online, Michael Beneville of Beneville Studios noted that in order to keep the concept alive, it needs to evolve with the times and offer cutting-edge experiences that online options can’t compete with.

“The mall of America isn’t dead,” he said. “It just needs to be reinvented. People don’t want to be spoon-fed their entertainment. They want to interact with it.”

Details on Area 15 beyond those in this article are still scarce, however, with promotional material claiming that the complex will offer an “immersive and unique experience” that would “appeal to a variety of clientele, including gamers, comic-con and sci-fi enthusiasts, artists, music and festival lovers.” But with a large amount of construction already slated to and currently taking take place in Las Vegas – with hotels, casinos, convention centers, and more slated to open soon – it remains to be see how and if Area 15’s somewhat mysterious concept will compete.

LAS VEGAS, NV – According to recent reports, the real estate market in Las Vegas is still on an upwards trajectory with little sign of slowing down; substantial year-to-year gains in terms of the value of properties in Southern Nevada are eclipsing almost every other region in the United States, speaking volumes to the fact that Vegas is a hotbed of housing activity in 2018.

Overall, real estate in the United States is skyrocketing, and even in such an environment Las Vegas is standing out; currently, it is ranked number two nationally in property value appreciation, up 6.3 percent in February 2018 from the same period of time one year prior. This is equal to a previous jump in December, which represented the biggest gain in home appreciation in Vegas in almost three years, making it second only to Seattle, Washington. Coming in third is San Francisco, California.

The gains in home values in Las Vegas can be attributed to a number of factors, with experts mainly citing the improving economy resulting in steadily-increasing jobs – which, in turn, is attracting new transplants to the area – as well as an increased amount of young millennials leaving home and getting their own places. And, of course, there is that old adage that supply and demand sets the price; March 2018 saw an increase in home sales over February, although that overall number was lower than a year ago simply due to the fact that there currently aren’t enough properties on the market to satisfy the growing need.

As far as the prices of homes overall, April recorded a whopping 2017-2018 year-to-year increase in April of 16.1 percent, with the median sales price of a single-family home coming in at $289,000; this represents a 3.2 percent jump from March. As for actual sales, 2,878 homes were sold in April, which was a decrease of 8/7 percent from the month prior but still an uptick of approximately 0.4 percent from last year. As for inventory, 3,816 single-family homes in Las Vegas were up for sale but were without offers in April, representing a drop of 0.5 percent from March, and 24,9 percent from the same time one year ago.

But while this is all good news for dabblers and investors in the real estate market, it spells potential issues for actual home buyers, as the gains to home values reported for February signify that they are rising at a level that is currently greater than respective gains in terms of both inflation and the average pay level for the region. While this obviously doesn’t make buying property for the average family impossible, if appreciation continues at this level for the foreseeable future buyers may have to make more frugal choices in terms of lodging. For example, due to increasing mortgage rates, more and more people in the United States are opting to renovate their homes as opposed to selling them, and less families are selling their properties because – especially in areas like Las Vegas – the supply currently hasn’t caught up to demand, yet, although many developers are doing their best to try.

If you are considering relocating in or around the Las Vegas area, which clearly is experiencing huge growth and a booming job market,  give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any real estate and home relocation questions you may have.

LAS VEGAS, NV – With the imminent arrival of the soon-to-be former Oakland Raiders National Football League team in Las Vegas causing quite a stir in both the tourism and business industries, and their new home stadium – with construction already having broken ground – expected to draw even more visitors and companies to Southern Nevada, a noted bond credit rating business, Moody’s Investor Service recently announced that the already skyrocketing local economy will continue to improve once Las Vegas Stadium, to be located at Interstate 15 and Russell Road, finally opens its doors for business in 2020.

In a recently released report, Moody’s Patrick Liberatore noted that the new stadium, in addition to a future Las Vegas Convention Center expansion would serve as a hub for a revitalised event scene, allowing the city to host a wide variety of different sporting events, concerts, and business and entertainment-based conventions sure to attract numerous tourists to the region.

Clark County expects the new NFL stadium will be a notable new draw for consumers and visitors,” he said. “In addition to professional football, the approximately 65,000-seat stadium will compete to attract other large-scale sporting events and also provide the Las Vegas area with its first major facility that can accommodate other large-scale events, like major music tours.”

The report released by Moody’s, which encompasses 10 pages, confirmed that tourism in the Las Vegas region is up to levels that manage to exceed numbers obtained before the mid-2000’s recession that rocked the region – and especially the real estate market – with the number of visitors to the city’s hotels being considered “consistently strong,” according to the report. This fact is especially telling in light of the recent October 1 mass shooting during an outdoor concert having a temporary yet detrimental effect on tourism in Las Vegas.

However, that tragedy does not appear to be having an effect upon the progress of the construction of the Las Vegas Raiders’ Stadium, with reports indicating a recent sale of $650 million in bonds to help pay for the nearly $2 billion, 65,000-seat project was a rousing success, all of the bonds on offer by Clark County being purchased within only an hour-and-a-half by 43 investors. The bonds constitute a major portion of the $750 million in public funds that are being contributed to the cost of the stadium, and are set to mature over a period of 30 years at an average interest rate of 3.94 percent. The reminder of the funding for the stadium project is being provided by Raiders management.

As is plainly apparent, the resurrection of the Las Vegas economy and its tourism industry are going hand-in-hand, with financial growth leading to a booming job and real estate market, and the arrival of new businesses, residents, entertainment options and professional sporting teams are only serving to attract more visitors – and their dollars – to Southern Nevada.

If you are considering relocating in or around the Las Vegas area, which clearly is experiencing huge growth and a booming job market,  give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any real estate and home relocation questions you may have.

LAS VEGAS, NV – If you’re at all familiar with the real estate scene in Las Vegas, you’ve probably well aware of the fact that demand is currently well outstripping the number of properties available on the open market, with prospective buyers clawing like a drowning man at a straw in the ocean to get in a bid whenever a new home or condo becomes available. It’s becoming a very real problem in Southern Nevada, and sellers and buyers alike are finding new ways to even the odds as much as possible- the increased use of social media in real estate to communicate and inform on all aspects of housing sales, giving web-savvy individuals a leg up whenever a new abode is for sale in their neck of the woods.

Oftentimes, in a fast-packed market such as Las Vegas, once an ad for a property sees print it may already have been snatched up, depending on when the publication it’s appearing in has been purchased or delivered to you. But when you go digital, those same listings are available universally at the same time; while this doesn’t give you a leg up on the competition, it certainly levels the playing field and gives you a better chance of getting in on the action before the listing is inundated with offers, as the situation in Vegas is getting so bad that some buyers are actually submitting offers without ever having actually seen the properties in question, believe it or not.

Following Las Vegas real estate on social media is beneficial for all parties involved; it enables sellers to immediately inform prospective buyers about any new dwellings that may be available, and for buyers, it is especially vital to be following real estate brokers if they have a social media presence as, according to statistics, more and more buyers – nearly 50 percent, by last count – are doing their house searching via the internet alone, forgoing print altogether. After all, social media has permeated the lives of the majority of the people in the world today, so it only makes sense for both sellers and buyers alike to take advantage of this widespread aspect of daily life when it comes to real estate…especially in a cutthroat town like Vegas when the pickings are slim and the demand is rabid.

While looking for a home can be a difficult process, social media can help a potential homeowner cut to the chase and find a property that fits their exact needs. By utilising search methods including hashtags and keywords, social media users can find a region-specific broker or agency that fits with their vision and – once following them – they will be informed of any new developments in terms of inventory or offerings as soon as they are made available; to that end, we recommend that you have the latest, most up-to-date versions of whatever social media apps you utilise and make sure you have your notifications set to inform you of any new posts by whatever real estate accounts you’re following…you never know when that buzzing in your pocket may turn out to be the precursor  to a brand-new home.

Las Vegas is becoming a tough town to find a new property in, and buyers need every advantage they can get- social media can be the key to finally finding the home of your dreams. If you are considering relocating in or around the Las Vegas area give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any questions you may have.

LAS VEGAS, NV – Amid the current real estate boom taking Southern Nevada by storm – simply put, there are currently more buyers looking for housing than there are houses on the market, which has seen its highest sales in a decade – local contractors and developers have been working overtime in an attempt to satiate demand…and falling short, unfortunately. However, this situation is ripe for any go-getter to take advantage of, and one such company – hailing from Texas, of all places – has decided to firmly plant their foot in the Las Vegas housing market.

LGI Homes, which is headquartered near Huston, is currently in the process of expanding their company to the Las Vegas region, an act which is surprisingly considered an unusual occurrence. For years, Vegas has typically relied on local developers for their construction needs, but the arrival of a relative newcomer in the market clearly signals that more muscle is needed when it comes to ramping up housing output for the demand created by the skyrocketing revival of Nevada’s economy and job market. Since its recovery from the housing bubble burst of the mid-2000’s, Vegas has seen a large increase in the number of newly-transplanted residents into the area in the last few years…and, obviously, those new residents need places to live.

LGI recently purchased its first property in Las Vegas – a 20.5-acre subdivision located on Lake Mead Boulevard near Lamb Boulevard – and announced their first construction project, which is slated to create 102 single-family homes; a review for six variants on different housing models was recently approved by the Planning Commission of Clark County. LGI has stated that their main goal is to create dwellings that cater more to first-time home buyers, which is a population that most new construction does not take into consideration, reports say, with the projected price of their proposed single-family homes to come in at around $200,000 apiece, below the current median price for a typical Vegas property; the average sales price of a home purchased in March of 2018 was $357,195.

The Lake Mead Boulevard area is considered “depressed” by some developers; the space located next to LGI’s new property currently contains an encampment for homeless individuals, with the space littered with shopping carts, tents, a mobile home, and random pieces of kitchen and living room furniture strewn about. However, the intense need for affordable housing is driving some companies to take risks in hopes of big payoffs in the end; while an established contractor may be loathe to take on such projects – even with demand currently being what it is – an outsider to Vegas can bring an alternate viewpoint and see a downtrodden area as an asset, experts say.

Development, even in underprivileged areas, can pave the way for revitalisation and profits; after all, Las Vegas as a whole was largely considered an economic black home for nearly a decade until its fortunes recently took a turn for the better, with jobs and businesses pouring back into the region. Savvy developers, such as LGI, are taking a shot at giving Vegas what it needs when others are dropping the ball, and it will only benefit the city as a whole in years to come.

Looking for information on the Las Vegas market? First-time home buyer recommendations? Las Vegas condos, area nightlife entertainment options? Please feel free to give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any questions you may have.

Tax Cap Keeping Property Taxes, Cost-of-Living in Las Vegas Affordable

LAS VEGAS, NV – The news when it comes to Las Vegas real estate, day in and day out, mainly consists of the skyrocketing home prices and scant availability of properties for sale, resulting in a mad scramble for just about any home or condo that a buyer can get their hands on. It’s been like this for a while now due to Vegas’ booming economy and quickly-recovering job and housing market, but what is life in Southern Nevada like once you’re lucky enough to have finally gotten your hands on an abode? Will the cost of living – mainly, property taxes – prove to be yet another hurdle to deal with?

In a word, no. In more words…well, please read on.

Unlike other regions in the United States, such as New York, where high taxes are driving people out to greener pastures (financially speaking), Las Vegas features a strict property tax cap that assures homeowners that their costs will only incrementally increase from year-to-year, keeping their bottom lines manageable. In addition, the sale of a home in Vegas does not trigger a reassessment of the property for tax purposes, therefore the purchase price of any given home will not be adversely affected; this prevents property taxes from being a deterrent from any given property sale in the region.

The tax cap is currently set at three percent and ensures that property taxes can only increase that currently set amount – and not a penny more – in any given year. The cap is re-examined each year by the state, and features a variable rate; in recent year, the property tax cap in Las Vegas has been as low as one percent and as high as eight, although recent trends have seen the rate slowly increasing as if late.

An major advantage of the tax cap is the fact that it currently works hand-in-hand with the fact that most properties in Vegas received their most recent re-assessments at the end of the mid-2000’s recession, a time when property values were at an all-time low; while the market has bounced back and house values are the highest they’ve been in over a decade, the tax cap greatly prevents property taxes from increasing at the same speedy rate.

To really get a sense of how much cheaper the cost of listing in Las Vegas is, one merely has to look it Nevada’s neighbors to see how the other half lives; Mike Scanlin, CEO of IT company Born to Sellrecenly noted that his 2016 move from California’s Silicon Valley to Las Vegas saved him a small fortune in terms of property taxes.

“California has a nice climate, but the state income taxes, property taxes and property values drove me crazy,” he said. “You can make half as much in Las Vegas and save more money. In fact, the money I’m not paying in California state income tax is more than the mortgage on my 2,400 square-foot home.”

As you can see, the appeal to newly transplanted residents of living and working in Las Vegas isn’t just the economy, or the culture, or the job market, or the influx of new businesses and enterprises, or the booming real estate…it’s the quality of life and bang for your buck you can enjoy once you’ve arrived and settled down as well, allowing you to work less and enjoy life more while you’re at it.

Looking for information on the fast-growing Las Vegas real estate market? Current home prices? Las Vegas apartments, condos even area nightlife and entertainment expectations? Please 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, real estate prices in Las Vegas are showing no signs of slowing down while on their upwards trajectory, whereas the selection of properties available to prospective buyers also continues on its recent decline downward. This sets up a situation in Southern Nevada where constant demand is creating ever-growing prices that will only continue to escalate until demand is satisfied in the form of consistent, new construction of houses, condos, and apartments; something local contractors have been struggling with in past years.

The median price for a single-family home in the Las Vegas area during the month of March 2018 was $280,000, which represents a 1.8 percent increase from February and a 15.7 increase over the same period one year ago. Meanwhile, condos and townhomes averaged in at $160,000 in March, which is a whopping jump of 30.1 percent from 2017’s prices.

3,152 single-family homes were sold in Vegas in March, an increase in sales of 48.1 percent from the month prior; housing availability, however, was slim, with only 3,835 single-family properties on the market by March’s end, representing a decrease in inventory of over 30 percent from one year ago. As for condos and townhouses, only 761 were offer-less on the market at the tail end of March, with 82 percent of all houses and 89 percent of condos and townhouses selling within a 60-days, reports say.

With the booming local economy and job market in Las Vegas attracting new companies and businesses – and many newly-transplanted residents moving into the area to work for them – the situation in Las Vegas is getting so bad that some desperate buyers are actually going so far as buying homes without ever having seen them, skipping any kind of inspection before moving in, and making sky-high offers in order to edge out the considerable competition vying for anything they can get their hands on.

The price of a median home in Las Vegas has jumped approximately 12 percent in the past year and 50 percent in the last five. The increasingly-rare house priced below the $200,000 threshold often experiences a flurry of bidding activity – usually at least 15 to 20 or more – and desperate buyers are doing whatever they can to stand out in the crowd to sellers, including making the deal personal by writing emotional letters explaining why they like the property so much.

Clearly, Nevada is home to one of the most competitive real estate markets in the country, and it’s likely to remain this way until local building contractors and construction companies are able to finally catch up with the exhaustive demand.

Looking for relocation information on the fast-growing Las Vegas market? New home recommendations? Las Vegas apartments, condos even area nightlife and entertainment expectations? Please feel free to give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any questions you may have.

LAS VEGAS, NV – International Market Centers announced plans this week to construct a mammoth $76 million, 350,000 square-foot expo center in downtown Las Vegas, next to the group’s World Market Center, pending a signed deal with city officials that is expected to be made within the next few days. The project is slated to be one of the biggest projects in terms of construction volume in the downtown area within the last several years.

Provided the City of Las Vegas gives final approval to the proposal, work on the expo center is expected to begin in anywhere between 12 and 18 months. The completed project would see the 60 acres next to the World Market Center transformed into a cutting-edge exhibition hall and meeting venue that would allow the facility to host large-scale trade shows, conventions, and other events that may be too large for other halls to accommodate.

The current plot of land that is slated for the expo center is already host to three showroom buildings, a parking garage, and several temporary tent-based pavilions; it is currently not known if the new expo center would incorporate these existing buildings into its design, but the pavilions are expected to be removed upon completion of construction in order to make room for more expo parking spaces.

The expo center could also be used to host elements of the bi-annual furniture, gift and home décor focused Las Vegas Market, which brings some 100,000 visitors to the city. In addition, IMC will offer the Expo Center for a set number of days throughout the year to host non-profit events as designated by the Las Vegas Redevelopment Agency.

The Las Vegas Market, a popular home décor-based bi-annual event that typically attracts 100,000 visitors to the city, could also run aspects of their show in the expo center; also, according to the Las Vegas Redevelopment Agency, a pre-determined number of days each year at the center will be made available to not-for-profit organizations for attraction and fund-raising purposes.

The City of Las Vegas is proposing to partially fund the expo center project to the tune of $30 million in tax increment financing, which means that taxes collected by the construction of the expo would be put right back into the project by the city. Such an investment is seen as a wise expenditure on the part of local officials; once completed and functioning at maximum capacity, the expo hall is expected to attract a large increase of visitors to the area on a regular basis, creating an influx of tourism-based funds for downtown Las Vegas in the projected amount of $97 million annually, in addition to $234 million for the overall region of Southern Nevada.

The expo center is expected by many to fill a large void for large-scale event hosting made by the closure of the Cashman Center in late 2017, which had operated as a meeting, theater, and sporting venue in the downtown Las Vegas area.

Looking for information on the fast-growing Las Vegas real estate market? Current home prices? Las Vegas apartments, condos even area nightlife and entertainment expectations? Please feel free to give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any questions you may have.

Market Update: Las Vegas Real Estate Prices Continue Growth While Inventory Shortages Cause Sales Slowdown

LAS VEGAS, NV – As an example of scarcity not being able to keep up with demand, the ongoing housing shortage in red-hot real estate market Las Vegas has begun to take its toll on sales; while reports indicate that prices on houses and apartments continue to rise, the lack of available options in the market – and the inability of local developers to continuously produce new units at a pace which adequately satisfies demand – has caused a slight cool-down on home sales in the region.

As of current time, Las Vegas possesses less than a two-month supply of homes available for sale on the market; for any given area’s real estate market to be considered “balanced,” a six-month supply is typically called for. And it’s this imbalance – coupled with ever-increasing demand thanks to a rebounding economy and subsequent growing populace – that is driving home the fact that there are simply not enough homes for sale in Southern Nevada.

Part of the overall issue is that, while numerous developers and contractors are going about the business of constructing more properties, they are simply proving unable to keep up with demand at a sufficient pace given the rapid expansion of the market in the last few years, according to a statement by Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors President Christopher Bishop.

I’ve heard reports saying that they can’t employ enough people to build enough homes to keep up with the supply and demand. I wouldn’t say the market has slowed down. I would say the effects of the shortage have now caught up with us,” he said. “Sales have continued to go up over the last few years, even as our inventory has been going down. But with fewer homes on the market each month, it seems like it was only a matter of time before it started to affect sales.”

Currently, the median price for a single-family home in the Southern Nevada region during the month of February 2018 was approximately $275,000; this represents a 3.8 increase from the previous month and an impressive 14.6 percent jump from the same period one year prior. Meanwhile, the median price last month of townhouses and condominiums was $150,000, a whopping increase of 27.1 percent from February 2017. All told, the grand total of homes, townhouses, and condominiums sold during the month of February 2018 came in at 2,704; this represents an overall decrease of 5.4 percent from 2017, although the sales of condos and townhouses did rise 1.8 percent.

All in all, this news merely proves that Las Vegas real estate is hot, and shows no sign of cooling down in the near future. Clearly, more resources need to be allocated into the region to up construction rates to satisfy an ever-present and ever-increasing demand as Southern Nevada continues to grow and prosper.

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