Category Archive : Economy

LAS VEGAS, NV – According to a new report released by a Sothern Nevada real estate industry group, the prices of homes in Las Vegas continued to increase during the month of June, while the inventory of residences being put on the market also showed growth.

Las Vegas Realtors noted that the median sale price for an existing single-family home in the Las Vegas Valley was $475,000 in June, which was a $2,000 jump from May, when that price was $473,000. It also represented a year-over-year increase of 7.7 percent over June 2023’s price of $440,990.

And when it came to condominiums and townhomes, in June the median price for these types of residences was $295,000, the same price that it was in May and a 7.3 percent increase year-over-year.

At the end of June, there were 4,114 single-family homes listed for sale without any offers, a small bump from May’s 3,869 home availability but a jump of 11.8 percent from the same period of time one year prior. In addition, there were 1,367 condos and townhomes on the market without offers at the end of June, an increase from May’s availability of 1,324 and a whopping 47 percent increase from June 2023.

Las Vegas Realtors President Merri Perry noted that the cost of housing in Las Vegas continues to rise despite the fact that home mortgage interest rates remain at historically high levels.

Fortunately, our local housing market has been outperforming most of the country in a few key ways,” said Perry. “For example, home sales have been down nationally and approaching some of the lowest levels on record. Here in Southern Nevada, we’ve been selling more homes this year than we did last year. And unlike much of the nation, homes here have actually been selling faster than they were at the same time last year. At the same time, we’re seeing more homes available for sale, which is good news.”

In June, the combined total of homes, condos and townhomes sold was 2,698.

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 – They’re not quite there yet, but according to a new report released by Las Vegas Realtors (LVR), the prices of homes in the Las Vegas Valley this past May continued to inch up to their all-time high point, illustrating the fact that demand is still exceeding supply in Southern Nevada.

LVR’s report, which acquires its data from Multiple Listing Services, noted that during May the median sale price for an existing, single-family home in Las Vegas was $473,000, representing a 7 percent jump year-over-year and moving that number ever closer to the all-time record high achieved in the valley, which was $482,000 during May 2022.

The MLS showed that there were 3869 homes for sale in the valley without any offer at the end of May, which is a 6.1 percent increase year-over-year. In addition, compared to one year prior, new listings in Las Vegas surged 19.9 percent in May, an 8.7 percent increase from the previous month.

LVR President Merri Perry Issued a statement on this development, saying that “although the demand for housing here in Southern Nevada continues to outpace our supply, increased sales and inventory are positive signs for consumers and for our members.”

Meanwhile, the median sales price for brand new homes listed for sale in the valley reached $500,000 in May, which represents a 5.3 percent jump from the same period of time one year ago; while high, this number nonetheless falls below the all-time record for new home listings in the region, which was $525,000 in May 2022.

However, it remains to be seen how much longer home prices continue to swell in Las Vegas, given the growing national trend of lowering housing costs in several major markets – including Austin, San Antonio and Fort Worth, Texas, and Portland, Oregon – as buyers back off in response to high home prices and mortgage rates.

It is expected that this phenomenon will spread to other parts of the country as well as the situation continues, eventually driving home prices down again, says real estate company Redfin in a recent report.

“Nationwide, prices rose 4.4 percent from a year earlier to an all-time high during the four weeks ending June 2,” report said. “But there are early indicators that national price growth could soften soon: 6.4 percent of U.S. home sellers cut their asking price, on average, the highest share since November 2022. And the typical active listing has been on the market for 46 days, up 2.3 percent year over year – the biggest increase in nine months, suggesting home listings are growing stale faster than they were a year ago.”

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 a new report released by investment management company Colliers, the southwest valley is home to Las Vegas residents earning the highest median household income within the region.

As per its apartment market report for the first quarter of 2024, Colliers notes that the southwest valley’s median income was $86,682, with that number surpassing the median income in Henderson – the previous number one in that category – which was $86,682. In contrast, in the first quarter of 2023, Henderson’s median income was $92,356, whereas that number was $90,531 in the southwest valley.

Colliers International’s Executive Vice President for Multifamily Investment Sales, Jeffrey Swinger, said in the report that the southwestern valley – which is made up mainly by the up-and-coming township of Enterprise – is at the moment very clearly attracting workers and families in higher income brackets who are purchasing homes in the region, although it remains to be seen if this will remain to be the case going forward.

It’s kind of a hodgepodge to be honest. It’s not a master plan, so it’s kind of a free-for-all, and over the past few years it’s become very attractive because it has the land,” Swinger said. “Places like Green Valley and such, they’re all built out now. Summerlin is kind of a different animal, and then if you look at the Beltway and (the southwest valley’s) proximity to the Strip and the jobs, that’s why all the development has taken off there.”

Enterprise is quickly becoming one of the fastest growing areas in the entire nation, with a plethora of residential and commercial development currently underway. Reports indicate that the unincorporated township is growing at double the rate as the rest of the Las Vegas Valley, expanding by 60 percent between the years of 2010 and 2023 – as opposed to 20 percent for the rest of the valley – and boasted 245,243 residents by the end of 2023.

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.

CHICAGO, IL – In a historic settlement that will completely change the current homebuying and selling business model, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) on Friday entered into a settlement in a series of antitrust lawsuits brought against the organization by groups of home sellers by agreeing to pay $418 million in damages and eliminating commission rules, effectively doing away with the 6 percent industry standard.

The agreement to abolish the 6 percent commission standard on the part of NAR – which represents over 1 million Realtors – is expected to significantly reduce the costs associated with buying and selling homes, with experts predicting that commissions are expected to fall anywhere from 25 percent to 50 percent.

Up until Friday’s agreement, sellers paid both their broker and their buyer’s broker during a home sale, which some critics have said has artificially driven housing prices higher. Previously, sellers could pay more than $25,000 in brokerage fees upon the sale of the average-priced U.S. home, which is currently $417,000; those costs are then passed on to the buyer, which in turn leads to higher home prices.

A new set of rules will also be put into place, including prohibiting the amount of compensation an agent will receive from being included on listings posted on multiple listing services (MLS), which some have claimed leads to brokers pushing pricier homes on their customers; previously, NAR had required agents to post their fees on MLS listings.

In addition, brokers are no longer required to subscribe to MLS where properties are given a wide viewing in a local markets, and buyer’s brokers will now be required to enter into written agreements with their buyers.

The home sellers who had sued NAR argued that the cost of the buyer’s agent’s commission should be paid by the buyer who received the service, not by the seller, and that buyers should be able to negotiate the fee with their agent and that sellers should not be responsible for paying it.

In November, a Missouri federal jury ruled in favor of the plaintiffs and against NAR and two other brokerages for a total of $1.8 billion in damages for conspiring to keep agent commissions artificially high; because the lawsuit was an antitrust case, NAR would potentially have had to pay triple damages in the amount of $5.4 billion.

While the other two brokerage is settled, NAR initially vowed to appeal the judgment before finally agreeing to the settlement on Friday, which was announced by NAR interim CEO Nykia Wright in a statement.

NAR has worked hard for years to resolve this litigation in a manner that benefits our members and American consumers,” she said. “It has always been our goal to preserve consumer choice and protect our members to the greatest extent possible. This settlement achieves both of those goals.”

News of the settlement caused shares of real estate firms Zillow and Compass to plummet over 13 percent; Zillow issued a statement saying any significant change to the fee structure could have an industry-wide negative impact, including less business for real estate platforms.

If agent commissions are meaningfully impacted, it could reduce the marketing budgets of real estate partners or reduce the number of real estate partners participating in the industry, which could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations,” the firm said.

However, Robert Braun – a partner in Cohen Milstein’s antitrust practice that represented the homesellers in the lawsuit – claimed that Friday’s settlement will lead to a more competitive and fair real estate market.

For far too long, home sellers have faced a system recognized by many as blatantly unfair,” he said. “This class action and settlement provides justice for our clients and will require important changes that help future home sellers.”

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 – In the Las Vegas Valley a tiny home is generating big demand from desperate Las Vegas renters on a budget, with its landlord receiving scores of inquiries from prospective tenants, a situation he said he was not expecting, according to Fox 5 Las Vegas.

The 160-square-foot residence is listed for just $950 a month – half the average rent in the valley, which is currently $1,745 – and is located on the landlord’s own property; he said he built it himself for just $22,000, and did so as a way to help out people during the ongoing economic downturn that the country has been experiencing.

I’ve literally [had] 113 and counting people. [My phone] keeps ringing on wanting to rent it,” the landlord said, who asked to remain anonymous when speaking to local media. “It’s definitely in people’s heart to want to save some money right now. This economy’s tough, and just doing my share on trying to help someone out.”

This isn’t the first time that this generous landlord has put such an offering on the market, having built dozens of other small homes that he rents out. In 2021, the Nevada State Legislature passed a law that requires cities whose populations are higher than 150,000 to create zoning laws for tiny homes, with compliance required by 2024.

The $950 rent includes all utilities and services, including water, electricity, internet, garbage removal, and plumbing. The interior boasts a small pull-down table for dining, a kitchen with a cooktop stove, a bathroom, a washer and dryer combo, and a bedroom located in an upper loft overlooking the main floor.

In addition, the tenant that snags this property will also enjoy a small backyard space, including a garden and a table and chair.

The landlord noted the interested parties run the gamut from a family of four to numerous single parents with children and pets. But the one uniting factor that all of the prospective tenants share is a need for affordable housing, and they are apparently willing to sacrifice some living space in order to acquire it.

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 – January 2024 saw the second-highest number of luxury home sales in Las Vegas ever, proving that high-end residence sales in Southern Nevada are still going strong – and picking up steam – despite whatever challenges are encountered by the national real estate market overall in light of high inflation and mortgage rates.

In all, 102 homes and condominiums priced at $1 million and higher exchange hands last month, an amount eclipsed only by the current record-holding year of January 2022, during which 122 abodes in that price range were sold. The next two highest months in Las Vegas history were January 2021, when 86 luxury sales took place, and January 2023, when 76 were sold.

January’s luxury home sales in Vegas were bolstered by a number of expensive purchases, topped by the sale of an estate in Summerlin’s affluent The Summit Club community for a whopping $19 million. This home, acquired by Insight Tech Holdings NV LLC – a buyer from Asia – from Chambord Revocable Trust with Michael L. and M’Lissa M. Gravelle listed as trustees, was an all-cash deal.

The home, located on Stardust Drive, was originally built in 2020 and subsequently renovated in 2021; it features four bedrooms and 4.5 baths in a residence with an “ultra-modern design” that offers 7,908 square-feet of living space. Situated on a 1.37-acre plot of land, the property also boasts a pool and unobstructed views of the famed Las Vegas Strip.

The second highest-priced home that was sold in Vegas in January was a two-story residence in McDonald Highlands in Henderson for $8.45 million. Built in 2022, renovated in 2023, and located on a 0.3-acre plot of land on Tranquil Rim Court, the 7,373 square-foot home has five bedrooms, five full baths, two partial baths, and a six-car garage. Amenities include a movie theater, bar, game room, wine cellar, and elevator.

The third-highest luxury sale in Las Vegas in January was $7.3 million for a Southern Highlands home, followed by a home in The Ridges in Summerlin for $5.76 million.

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 drought of affordable housing options in Las Vegas can be contributed to a number of different reasons, but a new report indicates one of the factors affecting the situation is the large number of California residents relocating to Nevada that have been outcompeting state residents for housing for some time now.

Bob Cleveland, President and Chief Executive Officer for the nonprofit Rebuilding Together Southern Nevada, noted that Californians have been outbidding Nevadans for homes in the Las Vegas Valley for several decades now. The situation was exasperated even further starting in 2022 when the Federal Reserve began increasing interest rates in order to curb record-high national inflation.

I hate to say it but it’s California, and that’s me growing up in the construction industry and I used to work for a builder,” he said. “During the first boom that we had, I was the area manager for the Northwest and we would release a section of homes at 3 o’clock in the morning and there would be a line of people and almost all of them would be from California. And you had to put down $20,000 cash deposit just to get on the list to buy these houses.”

Over the course of the last several decades, Californians have comprised approximately one-third of all new residents moving to Nevada, with the vast majority of those transplants coming from Los Angeles.

When it comes to Californians edging out Nevadans on the housing market, the edge that the former holds is clear; according to the U.S. Census Bureau, the median household income in Los Angeles is $83,000, in contrast to just $66,000 in the Las Vegas Valley. In addition, the average price of a home in Los Angeles is approximately $900,000, as opposed to just $400,000 in Southern Nevada.

It’s these circumstances that Cleveland says creates an enormously unfair advantage for California residents when it comes to competing for affordable housing in the Las Vegas Valley.

Our income is just not on par with California’s income,” he said. “So our housing prices have gone up because of the influx of California money, and our income hasn’t been going up so it makes it hard for the average Joe to keep up.”

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 2023 representing the slowest year for real estate in Las Vegas in over a decade, January 2024 showed a significant rebound with both home and condominium sales improving significantly, giving experts hope that the upcoming year will show great improvement as the national economy continues to stabilize.

According to a new report by Las Vegas Realtors, the prices of homes were higher – and the inventory lower – last month when compared to January 2023. The median sales price of an existing single-family home in January was $445,000, which represents an approximate 5 percent increase year-over-year. In addition, the median sales price of condominiums and townhomes in Las Vegas in January was $275,000, nearly a 9 percent increase from the same month one year prior.

Merri Perry, President of Las Vegas Realtors, noted that the escalating economy – coupled with the affordability factor that has long been associated with Las Vegas – is contributing to the improvements in the local real estate market in the new year.

Over the past few months, we’ve seen benefits from lower interest rates and relatively stable home prices here in Southern Nevada,” she said. “Now, if we could just get more homes on the market, we’d really be in good shape.”

Sales of homes, condominiums, and townhomes in Las Vegas totaled almost 2,000 in total in January, representing an approximate 12 percent increase in home sales year-over-year, and a 20 percent increase for condos in townhomes.

At the end of last month there were over 3,555 single-family homes for sale on the open market without any offers, which is a whopping 35 percent decrease from January 2023; in addition, there were more than 1,130 condos and townhomes listed for sale without offers, which is an 8 percent decrease.

The total combined value of all Las Vegas-based real estate transactions in January was more than $842 million for homes – a year-over-year increase of 19.6 percent – and approximately $139 million for condos and townhomes, up 17 percent.

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 – 2023 saw an impressive number of condominium sales in Las Vegas, with the highest-priced property that exchanged hands last year taking place courtesy of Mark Davis, the owner of the Las Vegas Raiders NFL team, who sold off his condo located in Summerlin’s affluent The Summit Club for a cool $10.5 million.

Davis – who had originally listed the condo for $13.5 million – purchased the 2,862-square-foot unit in March 2021 for $5.3 million, making the sale price a substantial return on his initial investment.

Clark County property records lists Stay Away LLC as the buyer of the two-story condo, which boasts two bedrooms, two three-quarter baths, one half bath, a great room with a fireplace, a large kitchen, and a balcony.

Davis made the decision to sell his condo because he wanted to be closer to West Henderson, where the Raiders’ headquarters is located. At the time of the listing, he reportedly stated he realized he would be unable to see the Raiders’ Allegiant Stadium from The Summit Club abode, which was “starting to drive me crazy.”

Davis currently has a $14 million home under construction at 77 Sunset Strip in the Henderson hillsides of Ascaya, where he plans to reside full-time.

The 15,000-square-foot Ascaya residence is being developed by luxury builder Blue Heron on a 6.3-acre plot of land that Davis purchased for $6 million. The three-story home is being built so that it resembles Allegiant Stadium – of which it will have unobstructed views – with the upper floor being patterned after the bridge of a ship.

Following Davis’ condominium, the number two condo sale in Las Vegas for 2023 was an $8 million tie between a 6,401-square-foot penthouse at Turnberry Place and a 3,922-square-foot condo at the Waldorf Astoria on the Las Vegas Strip.

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 – At the organization’s recent annual breakfast meeting, the Southern Nevada Home Builders Association welcomed over 170 building executives, with many expressing optimism for home development in Las Vegas in 2024 while also noting that they still face significant hurdles in terms of the lack of available land to them; something that continues to usher in affordability concerns for homebuyers.

Many Las Vegas builders at the breakfast – which was held Tuesday at The Orleans Hotel and Casino – stated that the continuing development of the city’s sports and entertainment industries have contributed greatly to the construction business in recent years.

The recent boom in the Las Vegas economy as a result of new professional sporting teams transplanting themselves to the city – in addition to new entertainment venues, events, and low cost of living relative to other regions in the country – has lured numerous new inhabitants in recent months who are in need of housing options, noted Frank Wyatt, President of Pinnacle Homes.

With the Raiders, Golden Knights, Formula One, I think the ultra high-end has been most affected by what’s going on,” he said. “There are more people (who) have a lot of money that are moving to town in higher numbers than ever.”

Some of the phrases brandied about regarding the Vegas new home market by builders included “good, improving, stable, and moderating.” The market – following a slow second half of 2022 due to rising interest rates driving up development costs – saw a 22% jump in net sales in 2023.

The new home building market has seen continued growth since October amid falling interest rates – which are currently under 7% – with builders now attempting to attract buyers by offering attractive incentives.

However, Wyatt said that the lack of available land to develop has hamstrung efforts of Southern Nevada builders to address housing needs, and called upon Congress to pass a law in order to make more federal land available for that purpose.

We live and work in a land-constrained community,” Wyatt said. “It’s probably one of the most constrained in the United States. It does nothing but increase the price of the end product to the homebuyer. We pay as much for land as we can justify and the home price is based on our cost. It’s not going to get any better.”

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 – Despite an increase in sales prices over the course of 2023, a new report indicates that the year was the slowest the Las Vegas Valley housing market has seen since 2008 – a time span of 15 years – with an 18 percent drop from 2022 alone.

According to new statistics from Las Vegas Realtors, in December 2023 the medium price of a single-family home was $449,900, an increase of approximately 6% when compared to the same month in 2022, when that amount was $425,000. However, December 2023’s prices still fall below the all-time record of $482,000, which was originally set in May 2022.

Las Vegas Realtors President Merri Perry – who recently succeeded Lee Barrett in the position – said that the fall in sales can mostly be attributed to a limited housing supply in the region, and anticipates that 2024 will see the Las Vegas real estate scene bounce back in a very real way.

It was good to see interest rates coming back down late in the year. That helps more buyers afford a home,” Perry said. “While we still need more homes on the market, many national experts are predicting at least some increase in the housing supply as we get into 2024. That should help buyers and help us sell more homes.”

Overall, 29,069 existing homes, condominiums, and townhomes were sold in Southern Nevada in 2023, a decrease of 18% from 2022, when 35,584 were sold; in contrast, 2021 saw a record-setting number of home sales for the year at 50,010.

Listings of new homes in Las Vegas saw a 10.3% decrease when compared to November, and a 30% decrease year-over-year. However, housing prices jumped 1.3% in December from the previous month and a whopping 19.5% from December 2022.

Experts are also attributing “sticker shock” to the slowdown in home sales due to elevated interest rates on mortgages. But with those rates anticipated to begin to slowly drop in the coming year, that may fuel more instances of home purchases, particularly in light of the fact that home values currently don’t appear to be dropping. After all, if rates start to drop but prices continue to increase, experts say, it’s better to buy now than in the future when prices may be even higher.

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 last bits of COVID-19-era inflation hopefully evaporating next year, Las Vegas real estate experts are expecting current record-high home mortgage interest rates to drop slightly in 2024, slowly transforming Southern Nevada into a “buyers’ market” after several years of the reverse being the case.

However, those same experts are shooting down hopes that interest rates will eventually return to the extremely affordable levels they were at during the start of the pandemic, saying that no matter how much they do go down, elevated rates are expected to be the new norm going forward.

After the Federal Reserve raised interest rates numerous times in order to combat the 40-year high inflation gripping the nation, all eyes are on the agency after their announcement they intend to finally cut interest rates three times in 2024.

Las Vegas Realtors President Lee Barrett said he expects the overnight federal funds rate to indeed decrease next year, but does not anticipate they will eventually get back December 2022’s 4.1 percent; the current average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is 7.2 percent.

This is going to be the new norm, higher interest rates and higher mortgage rates,” Barrett said. “They may drop, for the election a little bit, but I think 6.5 or 7 percent is where they are going to range next year.”

That being said, many real estate experts are predicting that 2024 will potentially see the Las Vegas Valley have its worst year for sales since 2008, with some saying it is a genuine mystery where the industry will head next year. However, with inflation improving and mortgage rates expected to come down a bit – leading to many who were holding out on listing their homes due to higher mortgage costs to finally do so – experts anticipate that the industry will shift towards a buyer’s market.

But that is not a certainty, experts say, as Las Vegas has a low inventory of properties currently available, and despite dropping sales figures, home sellers have for the most part been steadfastly refusing to cut their asking prices. Indeed, prices are only expected to drop 1 percent in the second and third quarters of 2024, creating what is known as a “locking” phenomenon in the Southern Nevada market.

Indeed, where the Las Vegas real estate market will go in 2024 is anybody’s guess at this point; the only thing that appears to be sure is that nothing is for sure.

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.