VEGAS INC Magazine - Latest Las Vegas business news, features and commentaries about gaming, tourism, real estate and more
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/180507
VEGAS INC C OV E R STO RY 'When the discretionary income dried up, the towns dried up' REAL ESTATE, From page 1 Small, rural housing markets are prone to extreme highs and lows, Home Builders Research President Dennis Smith said, and the ones near Las Vegas are no exception. The towns rely heavily on leisure and tourism to feed the economy, as many residents have low-paying casino service jobs. "When the discretionary income dried up, the towns dried up," Smith said. Now as the economy rebounds, property values are climbing in Pahrump, Boulder City, Laughlin and Mesquite. But the rise isn't as pronounced as in Las Vegas, and unlike in the valley, construction is largely at a standstill. Las Vegas' recovery has been fueled in large part by out-of-state investors buying rental properties in bulk. In the valley, the market has heated up so much and so fast that some experts worry another bubble is forming. That's not a concern in the rural areas, where investors are scarce. "It's a great time to be buying, but (people are) just not here to buy," said broker Tom Patton, owner of Laughlin Properties. Mesquite Mesquite sits 85 miles northeast of Las Vegas. The small resort community on the Arizona border draws snowbirds and retirees. Like Las Vegas, it experienced a real estate boom last decade. Mesquite's median home value peaked 14 20130930_VI01_F.indd 14 last year at an average price of $193,000. The same number of homes sold this year by mid-September at an average price of $225,500, Schaeffel said. Housing developments also are under construction. The largest is Sun City Mesquite, but developer Del Webb is far from finished. Executives plan to build 3,800 homes there but have completed fewer than 950 so far, Schaeffel said. Laughlin ELI SEGALLI LONE DEVELOPMENT: Mountain Falls, a master-planned community in Pahrump, is the only housing subdivision currently under construction in town. William Lyon Homes is building 14 houses. at $250,300 in 2006, up from $99,500 in 1997. In July, the median value was $171,600, down 31 percent from the high but up 18 percent over the past year, according to Zillow. Construction also rose at a stunning pace. In 2005, builders pulled 599 permits for single-family homes, more than double the 289 permits pulled in 2002. "You couldn't build them fast enough," real estate agent Leroy "Buck" Schaeffel said. From 2000 to 2010, the city's population soared 63 percent to 15,276, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. Many newcomers were lured by the city's warm weather, casinos and golf courses. Home listings dwindled to almost nothing because of demand. When Schaeffel moved to Mesquite in 2005, there were only 13 previously owned single-family homes for sale. The market took a big hit when the bubble burst, but things are improving. A total of 287 single-family homes sold Laughlin, an unincorporated town with a string of casinos on the Colorado River, didn't experience a housing boom last decade, but its neighbor Bullhead City, Ariz., did. With almost no industry besides resorts, Laughlin's population rose just 3.5 percent last decade to 7,323. Across the river in Bullhead City, where many of the casino workers live, the population climbed 17 percent to 39,540. Construction in Bullhead City, however, has ground to a halt. In 2005, builders pulled 925 permits for single-family homes. Last year, they pulled 36, city records show. The population since 2010 has been flat. In Laughlin, the only subdivisions that appear to be under construction are in Bilbray Ranch, a master-planned community. Not much is being built there, though. Las Vegas-based Harmony Homes | 30 SEPTEMBER 2013 | 9/26/13 2:09:16 PM