Category Archive : Economy

LAS VEGAS, NV – During a presentation last week to the Las Vegas Stadium Authority by Mortenson-McCarthy, the construction manager of the Oakland Athletics, revealed that work is slated to begin on the Major League Baseball team’s upcoming Las Vegas ballpark in April 2025 for an anticipated completion date of April 2028 – just in time for that year’s regular season. 

The presentation laid out the entire timeline for the project, including plans to incorporate a variety of local vendors throughout the ballpark’s construction, with 15 percent of the work expected to be carried out by local and minority-owned businesses. Mortenson-McCarthy also noted that they intend to employ a diverse workforce, stating that 51 percent of the total construction hours for the project will utilize a combination of female, minority, veteran, and disabled workers. 

It was also revealed at the presentation that law firms have been retained by the A’s to draw up both a stadium lease as well as a community benefits agreement, covering a financial commitment from the A’s to the local Las Vegas community in addition to promises of paying livable wages to ballpark employees, diversity requirements, educational programs, community engagement, and more. 

The new home of the Athletics’ will be on a nine-acre plot of land situated on the 35-acre site of the Tropicana, located at Las Vegas Boulevard and Tropicana Avenue. Currently, the plan is to demolish the Tropicana to make way for the A’s stadium and to build a new 1,500-room hotel and casino on the remaining acreage. 

The A’s home stadium – the project is expected to cost a total of $1.5 billion – is slated to take the form of a 35,000-seat retractable roof stadium, with the project currently pending the passing of state legislation for public financing. Once the monies are obtained, full development of the ballpark will be in the hands of Bally’s. 

The A’s relocation from Oakland to Las Vegas still needs to be approved by MLB team owners, who are expected to vote on the matter next month. 

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 – Remote work, which came to prominence during COVID-19, has remained a work model that is quite popular amongst many individuals even now that the pandemic is officially over, leading to a nationwide decline in the demand for office space; indeed, many metro areas are still reporting high degrees of vacancy and experts expect a hybrid work model to remain the norm for the foreseeable future. 

However, Las Vegas is one of the few major metropolitan areas in the United States that is bucking this trend, with reports indicating that demand for office space in the city continues to remain strong in direct contrast to most other regions in the country. 

Marc Magliarditi, a first vice president at the commercial real estate firm CBRE, notes that while office vacancy is still slightly off from pre-pandemic numbers, the rates of office occupancy in Las Vegas didn’t come close to experiencing the same negative impact that the pandemic had upon other cities, and that demand has been steadily increasing more and more each day. 

Magliarditi contributes that continued growth to numerous factors that are unique to Vegas, such as several professional sports teams recently taking up residence in Southern Nevada; an increasing population; a robust and ever-growing economy; and its greater number of suburban residents when compared to other cities 

We’ve been fortunate here in Las Vegas,” he said. “That demand has been pretty steady, and I would even say strong, post-pandemic.” 

Las Vegas’ business-friendly taxes has also been a draw in terms of filling office space, with numerous companies relocating from California and other parts of the country to do business in the Valley, and the one thing that these companies all have in common – in addition to wanting to save money, that is – is that they all need commercial space to reside in. 

In addition, these companies are investing in new and improved office space in an effort to entice and retain new employees in a post-pandemic work market, currently making Las Vegas office space some of the most sought-after real estate in the country. 

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 real estate sales figures for Las Vegas in the month of September are in, and the median sales price of an existing single-family home in Southern Nevada was $450,000, which is the exact same price it was one year ago in September of 2022. 

The coincidences don’t stop there; the median sales price for condominiums and townhouses in Las Vegas was $270,000 in September, which is once again the same exact price year-over-year. 

These prices were reported by Las Vegas Realtors, and according to the group’s president, Lee Barrett, it’s an example of a degree of stability in the current local housing market that he envisions continuing for the foreseeable future. 

We should probably get used to the current housing market since it’s not likely to change much anytime soon,” he said in a statement. 

Bartlett noted that since March 2022, the Federal Reserve has increased interest rates 11 times in an effort to curb skyrocketing inflation; however, those rate increases have not had much effect upon the Las Vegas real estate market, he said. 

Hopefully, some of our national experts are right in predicting that interest rates could begin to come down a bit sometime next year,” Bartlett said. “Even at current rates and with our very tight housing supply, owning a home here in Southern Nevada is a better deal than renting for most people, especially when you consider that homeownership is still one of the best ways to build wealth and financial stability over time.” 

Las Vegas Realtors reports that available housing options are not remaining on the open Las Vegas market for any significant amount of time, with 85.7 percent of homes and 86.3 percent of condos and townhouses that were sold in September only having been available on the open market for a period of time spanning 60 days or less. 

At the end of September, there were 4,066 homes available on the market without any offers, which represents a 49.9 percent decrease year-over-year; as for condos and townhouses, 1,035 were available at the end of the month without offers. 

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 housing market – both in Las Vegas and nationwide – breeding affordability concerns and pricing many out of the market altogether, buyers have been turning to more affordable options such as townhomes and condominiums. Southern Nevada developers, in turn, have sat up and taken notice, with more of them focusing on building these dwellings in order to produce denser developments and larger returns on their respective investments.

In May 2023, 29.1% of new home sales consisted primarily of townhomes and other such attached products, and this newfound attention from buyers on these housing options are not showing any sign of slowing its current momentum.

Skyrocketing interest rates on home mortgage loans have been the primary factor driving this increased interest in townhomes and condos, as single-family houses are currently outside of many people’s price range. Density in the form of two-story condominium projects are now starting to become a greater emphasis for many developers in the Las Vegas area.

In the first half of 2023, closings for new homes were down 12% year-over-year, with 4,106 single family homes closed on during that span of time. In contrast, 1,237 attached homes were closed on during that same time period, which represents a 6% increase from the first six months of 2022.

Of the new homes sold during the first six months of 2023, 23% of them were attached, including 29.1% in May and 25 percent in June. According to Touchstone Living’s Tom McCormick – one of the main townhome developers in the region – the number of townhomes and condominiums being sold in Las Vegas are on their way to reaching an all-time record high if these trends continue.

I’ve been here since the 1990s, and we’ve never seen it this high.” he said. “It’s about affordability and lifestyle. Land is so expensive and driving housing unaffordability, but with town homes, you can put more homes on the same amount of land. That makes the land cost per home lower and leads to a lower sales price.”

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 – Sales of luxury homes in Las Vegas have now reached their highest level ever with a record-setting number of homes priced at $1 million or higher exchanging hands between January and June of this year, and the milestone is being associated with numerous factors, including increasing prices and escalating demand. 

During the first six months of 2023, 267 luxury homes costing $1 million and above were sold, besting the previous all time record of 237 homes sold in the first half of 2022, as per Home Builders Research; the report covered the sale of production homes only, and does not include instances where homeowners have purchased empty property and have utilized it to construct multi-million dollar custom homes upon it. 

Experts in real estate have noted that demand for luxury abodes in Las Vegas has been skyrocketing as of late due to very tight inventory and the fact that many standard homes do not have the opulent trappings and high-end amenities that affluent home buyers are typically looking for. 

In addition, the luxury market in Las Vegas has been performing better when compared to the middle-class housing sector since buyers in that price range typically possess a degree of wealth that current high interest rates on home mortgages are not a deterrent to making a purchase now. In contrast, many average-level income buyers are waiting in hopes that rates will come down at some point. 

Yet another contributing factor for the increase in $1 million and above sales in Las Vegas is the increasing costs associated with construction, which in turn has resulted in more new luxury homes being valued at that threshold than in previous years. 

Vegas has seen luxury sales increase year over year on a regular basis; the only year to buck that trend was 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic put a temporary roadblock on home sales in the second quarter of the year.  

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 prices of homes in Las Vegas during the month of August remained stable but in contrast, the prices condominiums and townhomes fetched during that span of time reached an all-time record high according to new report released by Las Vegas Realtors on Wednesday. 

The median price for an existing single-family home sold in Las Vegas in August was $447,435, which is only a very slight decrease from the $450,000 that represented the median price in July; year-over-year, August’s prices were down only 0.6 percent, showing that the real estate market in Southern Nevada has achieved a degree of stability after several years of ever-climbing prices. 

However, the market for condos and townhomes showed no such restraint in August, with the medium price hitting an all-time high of $287,000; this represents an 8.3 percent increase year-over-year and bests the previous record set in May 2022, when that price was $285,000. 

Inventory in the housing market and several spikes in home mortgage rates are still leaving a lasting effect upon the market, according to Las Vegas Realtors President Lee Barrett. 

Homes prices haven’t changed much lately. As for the record price for condos and townhomes, I attribute that to the demand for lower-priced housing options exceeding our supply,” he said. “Mortgage rates are obviously a factor. But as we’ve been saying all year, the biggest challenge we face in the local housing market is a very tight housing supply.” 

There were 3,881 single family homes listed for sale without any offers at the end of August, which is a decrease of 50 percent year-over-year; Condos and townhomes saw similar numbers, with 978 units listed for sale without offers, a decrease of 46 percent from the same period of time one year prior. 

2,649 existing homes, townhomes, and condos were sold last month, up 0.3 percent for homes and 4.7 percent for condos and townhomes when compared to August 2021. 

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 – Officials representing the Nevada Division of Insurance and the Nevada Real Estate Division have issued warnings to state residents over a new and increasingly widespread real estate scam known as “vacant lot fraud” or “seller impersonation fraud.”

This particular scam involves individuals pretending to be owners of properties or vacant lots and attempting to sell them before the owners and/or buyers wise up to the scheme. Officials say that there are numerous telltale signs that people should look out for – which are detailed below – before these bad actors are able to separate them from their hard-earned money. 

The fraud works like this: the perpetrator will look through public records in search of real estate that is free of mortgages or liens, and then pretend to be the owner of the property and list it for sale through a real estate agent. The most common targets of this scam are unoccupied properties such as vacant lots and vacation or rental properties that the owner does not personally reside in. 

These scammers normally list the properties below their established market value and quickly accept the first offer they receive; from there, they send falsified documents for the closing and then quickly collect the proceeds and disappear, with the victims completely unaware that they’ve been bamboozled until the fake documents have been recorded with the county. 

The Nevada Division of Insurance and the Nevada Real Estate Division have provided a comprehensive list of the telltale signs of seller impersonation fraud, and they are as follows: 

• Seller refuses to attend signings; always claiming to be out of town.  
• Seller requests to use their own notary. 
• Seller demands proceeds be wired. 
• Seller has a different address than the owner’s address or tax mailing address. 
• Seller refuses or is unable to complete multifactor authentication of identity verification. 

In addition, the following precautions can also help you avoid being a victim of this scam: 

• Send mail to the seller at the address listed on tax and property records. 
• Ask the seller’s real estate agent if they have personal or verified knowledge of the seller’s identity. 
• If using a remote notary, be sure the notary is fully vetted and approved by your state; otherwise, the title company should arrange for an in-person notary signing at an attorney’s office, title agency, or bank. 
• Contact the seller directly at an independently discovered and validated phone number. 
• Verify the sellers identify by sending the seller a link to complete a third-party identity verification. 
• Run the seller’s email and phone number through a verification program. 
• Ask conversational questions to ascertain seller’s knowledge of property information not readily available in public records. 
• Compare the seller’s signature to previously recorded public documents. 
• Use a wire verification service or confirm wire instructions match account details on seller’s disbursement authorization form. 
• Require a copy of a voided check with a disbursement authorization form. 
• Require that a check be sent for seller proceeds rather than a wire. 

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 high mortgage rates, decreased sales, and complications due to a currently-high inflation rate, the real estate market can be incredibly complex and competitive to navigate, and Las Vegas, Nevada is no exception to that rule. So, local experts have pitched in to offer some tips on house buying in Southern Nevada, a market which is still proving to be a hotbed of sales activity despite the financial trials and tribulations being experienced across the country. 

First and foremost, a prospective buyer should always make sure to select a qualified realtor to aid them in their search for a home; buying and selling properties without the aid of one throughout the course of the transaction is NOT recommended. 

Looking up reviews of realtors on reputable real estate websites is a good idea, and conducting plenty of research to make sure you’re finding the right person for the job is essential when it comes to the largest purchase you’re ever likely to make in your lifetime. 

Next, you should establish a budget that is both clear and realistic, taking into account how much you can realistically afford; this may narrow the options available to you, but it also helps you to avoid getting into a serious financial bind down the road. When determining a budget, a buyer should take into account numerous financial aspects, including their income, debt, any possible future expenses, and the currently high level of interest rates on home loans. 

High interest rates on mortgages have resulted in a bit of a slowdown in the Las Vegas real estate market due to the fact that many current homeowners are locked into lower interest rate loans and are loathe to sell. This has placed a limit on the amount of available housing inventory at the moment which is presenting budget challenges to buyers, with more and more of them remaining in the rental market for the time being while waiting for conditions to improve. 

However, experts recommend that for those with the financial means to do so, there are indeed a growing number of home buying options available to them in Southern Nevada – especially in the suburbs – and potential refinancing options could be available in the future if and when interest rates drop to a more manageable level. 

Home buying these days may be more difficult than it used to be, but with effort, financial savvy, due diligence, and the right realtor by your side, it’s still an achievable dream for many. 

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 Athletics’ ownership has hired the pair of industry-leading construction firms responsible for building Allegiant Stadium to build the Major League Baseball (MLB) team’s proposed new $1.5 billion ballpark on the Las Vegas Strip. 

 The A’s announced this week that the Mortenson | McCarthy Joint Venture will be responsible for handling all construction-related duties on the upcoming stadium, including estimates prior to the start of construction, scheduling and logistics planning, bidding, coordinating and managing labor, as well as engaging with the community. 

According to a statement released by A’s President Dave Kaval, the decision to go with this joint development team –  who are considered standouts in their field – was an easy one based on their previous efforts, particularly with the work they did on bringing Allegiant Stadium to life for the Las Vegas Raiders. 

Mortenson | McCarthy brings an exceptional level of expertise and experience to our project,” he said. “Their focus on innovation, safety and efficiency makes them the best in their field.” 

Despite the announcement, hiring of Mortenson | McCarthy still must be approved by the Las Vegas Stadium Authority before the deal can go down, although that is considered merely a formality. 

The new home of the Athletics – who are joining the Raiders in moving from their former hometown of Oakland, California – will be on a nine-acre plot of land situated on the 35-acre site of the Tropicana, located at Las Vegas Boulevard and Tropicana Avenue. Currently, the plan is to demolish the Tropicana to make way for the A’s stadium and to build a new 1,500-room hotel and casino on the remaining acreage. 

The A’s home stadium – a project expected to cost a total of $1.5 billion – is slated to take the form of a 35,000-seat retractable roof stadium. $380 million in public funds have been earmarked for the A’s new stadium, and the project in its current form could potentially also receive up to $180 million in transferable tax credits as well. 

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 – New data released by Las Vegas Realtors indicates the number of listings for new homes within the Las Vegas Valley have decreased by approximately 52 percent year-over-year in July, representing a historically low inventory of homes currently on the market. 

The housing market in Las Vegas is currently a one-of-a-kind occurrence, experts say, due to the limited number of homes available for sale along with numerous other mitigating factors – including high interest rates on home mortgage loans – that is creating a degree of demand not otherwise reflected by the majority of the real estate market in the rest of the country at the moment. 

A major example of this phenomena, according to Redfin, is the fact that out of all of the metropolitan areas in the United States, only Las Vegas saw an increase impending home sales in July. In fact, the new Las Vegas Realtors report notes that only 3,524 single-family homes were listed for sale last month without any offers, which represents a 4.2 percent decrease from June, and a whopping 51.9 percent decrease year-over-year. 

Redfin also reports that Las Vegas had a 43.4 percent drop in new listings over the course of the past month, the largest such decrease nationwide during that span of time. 

In addition to high demand, other factors that are reportedly driving the low housing inventory in the Las Vegas valley include a forbearance program instituted by the Federal Housing Administration during the COVID-19 pandemic, which is allowing some homeowners to remain in their residences by means of reducing or outright pausing their mortgage payments. 

The number of homeowners currently taking advantage of this forbearance program potentially number in the thousands, reports say, with the period of time where mortgage payments don’t have to be made ranging anywhere from six to 18 months. 

And finally, homeowners who made purchases during the midst of the pandemic – when interest rates were historically low – are currently hesitant to put their homes on the market due to the low monthly payments they currently benefit from, especially with new interest rates at much higher levels. 

All of these factors have combined to create what experts say is a “perfect storm” in the Las Vegas housing industry, driving up demand – and subsequently, prices – of what homes are left available on the market.

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

LAS VEGAS, NV – The housing market in Las Vegas continued its upward trend in July 2023, with the median price of a pre-existing, single-family home increasing by over $9,000 month-over-month, showing a sustained degree of growth that unfortunately was not shared in the city’s condominium and townhome markets. 

A new report released by Las Vegas Realtors indicates that the median value of a home in Las Vegas for July was $450,000, in contrast to just one month prior in June when that number was $440,990. 

That price increase can be contributed to several factors that continue to persist despite the fact that interest rates for home mortgages remain historically high. These factors include the high degree of demand combined with a shrinking amount of housing inventory in Southern Nevada, which is serving to drive up the value of what homes are remaining available on the market. 

The all-time record for the median price of a home in Las Vegas was $482,000, which was achieved in May of 2022. 

While the prices of homes in Las Vegas continued to climb in July, the lower demand for condos and townhomes resulted in the median price dropping to $273,500, a $1,500 month-to-month difference from June when that number was $275,000. 

In their report, Las Vegas Realtors noted that 83.2 percent of homes and 85.6 percent of condos and townhomes sold within 60 days in July 2023; this represents a significant year-over-year decrease, as 95.2 percent of homes and 95.7 percent of condos and townhomes sold within 60 days in July 2022. 

Another decrease in July came in the form of cash buyers for real estate, as they made up one-quarter of all sales for the month; in contrast, that percentage was one-third during the same period of time one 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 – A new mid-year report released this week by Maryland-based RCLCO Real Estate Consulting has listed the master planned Las Vegas community of Summerlin among the top five best-selling in the entire nation. 

Summerlin, located on the western edge of the Las Vegas Valley, came in at number five on RCLCO’s list of the best-selling communities in the United States, having achieved that prestigious ranking by having sold 544 homes through the end of June. But despite that impressive number of sales, it actually represents an 8 percent drop year-over-year, as reportedly 592 homes changed hands in Summerlin by the end of June 2022. 

Frank Stephan, Nevada region president for The Howard Hughes Corp. – the company that began development of the community in 1952 after business tycoon Howard Hughes bought the 25,000-acre parcel of land for $3 an acre – said that the popularity that led to its inclusion in RCLCO list is driven by Summerlin’s all-American family appeal. 

We believe Summerlin’s long-term success is due, in large part, to its thoughtful master plan that established design guidelines that have stood the test of time,” he said. “Planning for schools, shopping centers, cultural centers and office buildings as places of employment have also been integral to the community’s success, creating a place where residents can live, work, learn and play.” 

Stephan noted that Summerlin currently has 15 active neighborhoods – comprised of 120,000 residents – and still has almost 5,000 acres remaining to develop. In addition, it also boasts a bustling downtown that includes retail, restaurants, office space and major sports venues such as the City National Arena and Las Vegas Ballpark. 

With thousands of acres left to develop, Summerlin will continue its trajectory as the best place to live in Las Vegas,” Stephan said. “There is significant ongoing development in Summerlin West. We remain excited about Summerlin’s future and its insatiable momentum.” 

Topping RCLCO’s list of best-selling communities was The Villages in Florida, with 1,960 sales so far this year. 

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.