In The News: Lied Center for Real Estate

In cities like Las Vegas, LA, and Miami, investors are crowding out prospective homebuyers. But it’s not just corporate landlords.

The lack of land in Southern Nevada for building new homes and other development remains a hot topic for builders and other developers.

The Las Vegas Valley is the 16th most dense metro in the U.S., placing the region in the top 7 percent, according to a new study.

Nearly every issue influencing Nevada’s June 9 primary election and beyond can be traced back to housing. From diversifying the state’s economy to bolstering its teaching and healthcare workforces, everything starts with a safe and affordable place to live.
Mom-and-pop investors were behind nearly 66 percent of all homes bought by business entities in Clark County since 2015, and real estate experts say the Las Vegas Valley is the perfect climate for the business venture.

Five years ago, Las Vegas’ housing market was red-hot. Homes sold rapidly, as buyers flooded properties with offers and routinely paid over the asking price. One agent said he held an open house that drew so many people that local security did crowd control. Soon enough, however, the market had slammed the brakes, as sales totals plunged and prices tumbled.

Local experts Cameron Belt, the senior economist and research director for RCG Economics, and Shawn McCoy, Ph.D., director of the Lied Center for Real Estate at UNLV, will analyze and discuss potential solutions to this critical issue facing our community.

The federal government’s restrictive control of a fair chunk of the remaining land left for development in the Las Vegas Valley is now weighing heavily on the region’s housing market, according to multiple sources.

New numbers from the UNLV Lied Center for Real Estate show apartment prices in Clark County are down 2.8% from last year and more than 6% from their 2022 peak. Data from Apartment List shows the average rent in Clark County now sits around $1,423, down about 3.5% from last year. Despite the cooling market, landlords are offering record-breaking incentives to fill empty units rather than slashing prices across the board. The Lied Center for Real Estate reports incentive rates in Clark County are now the highest on record since 2000.

It’s a challenging time for the Las Vegas homebuilding community and a gathering Thursday gave the industry a chance to share their thoughts on possible fixes and solutions.

Leaders presented new data on supply, demand, and what’s driving prices across Southern Nevada, discussing workforce housing, infrastructure needs, and how continued growth could impact everything from water to tourism.

Experts predict nearly 400,000 people will move to the Las Vegas Valley over the next 10 years. Gov. Joe Lombardo joined developers, realtors, policymakers and researchers today to look for ways to build homes for all of them, while confronting the reality that the Valley lacks affordable housing for all the people who live here right now.