In The News: Department of Economics

Las Vegas Review Journal

With mortgage rates at a 20-year high and many homeowners locked into low rates they nabbed during the pandemic, fewer existing houses are selling in Southern Nevada and homebuilders are offering more incentives to get buyers into new homes.

Las Vegas Review Journal

The Las Vegas Valley could run out of land to build houses in as little as eight years, and this is definitely cause for concern, the leader of the region’s homebuilders association said.

KTNV-TV: ABC 13

If you're a renter, chances are your rent has increased in the last year. According to Redfin, the median rent in Las Vegas is about $1,500, while the national average is just over $ 1,600.

Daily Mail

The CEO of Red Lobster's parent company said he will never eat lobster again after the chain was forced to file for bankruptcy days after closing 100 locations. Thiraphong Chansiri, 58, is the CEO of Thai Union, a Thailand-based producer of seafood based products that owns a 49 percent stake in Red Lobster.

Las Vegas Review Journal

Investor purchases are on the rise again, and the Las Vegas Valley has seen one of the biggest upticks in the country, according to Redfin.

Daily Mail

Red Lobster has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection days after shuttering nearly 100 restaurants across America. The seafood chain, which has closed restaurants in 27 states, has been struggling with rising lease and labor costs in recent years and also promotions like its iconic all-you-can-eat shrimp deal that backfired.

Los Angeles Times

Red Lobster promised customers an endless supply of shrimp for $20 — a gamble the struggling restaurant chain hoped would help pull it out of its pandemic doldrums. But Americans, and their appetites, had other plans.

KLAS-TV: 8 News Now

As the real estate market squeezes out potential home buyers in Southern Nevada, many are facing a greater challenge, true affordable housing. There’s a concerning shortage that continues to expand.

New York Post

In most presidential election years, home prices aren’t a key issue for voters or a major campaign talking point. Consider it another way in which the 2024 election is anything but typical. With mortgage rates up and home prices out of reach for many first-time buyers, the affordability crisis is increasingly in the spotlight as campaign season heats up.

KLAS-TV: 8 News Now

Condo and townhome prices in Southern Nevada reached an all-time high in April 2024. Single-family homes have priced many out of the market as well. Experts said the cost is driven up by a myriad of things including low inventory and cash investors.

KVVU-TV: Fox 5

The Affordable Connectivity Program connected more than 23 million low-income households to the Internet at the height of the pandemic, but now, the ACP is running out of cash and coming to an end.

KTNV-TV: ABC 13

According to figures from the Las Vegas Realtors trade group, the median price for an existing home in Southern Nevada is $465,000, up 9% from the same time a year ago and nearing an all-time high of $482,000. As high as our home prices here seem, Stephen Miller, a professor of economics at UNLV, says homes are actually a bargain here compared to many other cities in the western United States.