The booming housing market in southern Nevada has a new rising star in North Las Vegas, a city where property sales have often lagged other parts of the Las Vegas Valley in recent years.
Real estate agents say competition for homes has become fierce in North Las Vegas, although it has often received less attention from home buyers in recent years compared to areas like Summerlin and Henderson.
“I’ve been doing this for 20 years – North Las Vegas has traditionally lagged the Vegas market, but we’ve seen amazing growth in that community,” said Joe Herrera, agent and owner of The Joe Taylor Group real estate agency.
Herrera said that’s because buyers are realizing they can get “a little bit more for your money” compared to other parts of the valley.
Real estate agent Yvonne Khoo said that not only has buyer interest increased, but property prices have also increased. She recalls helping shoppers quickly buy a “starter home” in North Las Vegas for $ 85,000 in the late 2000s. In the market today, the same type of home will get multiple offers and sell for around $ 310,000, Khoo said.
“If the price is right, you will see 20 to 30 offers,” she said. “If the price is high, you will likely see around 10 offers.”
The average base price for a new home in North Las Vegas is $ 340,000, compared to the Southwest Valley, where the average base price is $ 497,000, according to an analysis by the City of North Las Vegas.
Still, house prices in North Las Vegas are rising higher than in previous years, but Herrera said it still remains a more affordable option for some buyers.
“If someone is looking for a three car garage, pool, decent lot, and their budget is preventing them from buying in Summerlin or Henderson or any other area, North Las Vegas can find a reasonable price,” he says.
Strong appetite
Touchstone Living’s Waterfront Condominium, near VA Medical Center, is hiring hundreds of prospective buyers for their 1,180-home gated community with prices starting at $ 243,990.
“We see over 200 groups of people a week and have the longest waiting list we’ve seen,” said Touchstone President Tom McCormick. “We developed land and finished the entire site, but the models opened in January and it’s been on fire since we opened.”
He said it is not only the hot housing market that is driving buyers to look to North Las Vegas, but also the city’s efforts to attract employers.
Khoo reiterated the same point of view, citing the efforts of North Las Vegas Mayor John Lee to revive the city and recent activity at Apex Industrial Park, which saw developer VanTrust Real Estate last month a $ 44.75 million deal -Dollars completed for about 350 acres.
Lee said the city has focused on diversifying its economy by bringing in new industries and manufacturing companies, which will then create more jobs for existing residents while attracting new ones.
“It’s not North Las Vegas that anyone recognized in the past,” said Lee. “We also found that the North Las Vegas social classes rise higher as they become wealthier. So if you are in downtown North Las Vegas and looking for a new home, you will be looking for something above Craig Road. If you live above Craig Road you might be looking for something near 215 (Beltway). ”
Kelvin Agbor from North Las Vegas has been planning to move into his first home since December. He’s been a resident for nine years and works in a Coca-Cola warehouse, so the city has become his home.
He said he was looking for a three-bedroom single-family home for his family.
“I’ve made a lot of offers,” said Agbor. “Right now it’s just crazy.”
Agbor said that as someone with an FHA loan, he has been unable to compete with buyers sneaking in to pay for homes with all cash.
“You enter an open house with 30 to 40 people following the same house,” he said. “These open days usually last two to three hours. When I see this house for 15 minutes, think about how many people are going to that particular house in three hours. Now the seller has many offers to choose from. “
Land rush
Home Builders Research President Andrew Smith said demand for both buyers and home builders was due to price.
“The affordability and availability of land has fueled a lot of activity there,” Smith said, adding that more affordable land generally leads to more affordable homes.
He said North Las Vegas new home sales accounted for 24 percent of sales in the first quarter of 2021, compared to 10 percent of new home sales for the same period in 2018. Smith added that North Las Vegas “a large part” of the pie “From the southwest valley, which accounted for 24 percent of new home sales in the first quarter of this year, compared to 40 percent in the first quarter of 2018.
However, he found that much of the available space in the southwest is gone, so home builders have shifted their focus to north Las Vegas.
“It doesn’t necessarily have to do with the fact that the area is better or worse; it’s just a simple fact of land availability and price, ”said Smith.
And when it comes to homebuyers, Las Vegas real estate agent Rick Ruiz said that increased demand has led many to expand their searches, even to areas outside the valley.
“You can see that people are even considering moving to Pahrump, even Logandale, Overton,” he said. “North Las Vegas is just the tip of the iceberg.”
Contact Subrina Hudson at shudson@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0340. Follow @SubrinaH on Twitter.
