For those industries (or industry…..health care) that have jobs that require out of market recruiting…..Las Vegas is an affordable market to buy again.  According to Trulia, Las Vegas ranks No. 10 on its list of cities where it is cheaper to buy rather than rent.  Las Vegas ranked at a 10.92 price-to-rent ratio.  If you are not certain what this metric means, here is a definition:

Price-to-Rent Ratio of 1-15: It is much less expensive to own than to rent a home in this city Price-to-Rent Ratio of 16-20: It is more expensive to own a home in this city are The total costs of ownership of a home in this city are greater than the costs of renting, but it might still make financial sense depending on the situation. Price-to-Rent Ratio of 21+: The total costs of owning a home in this city are much greater than the costs of renting.

If you are into economic charting, check this out.  It details the current marketplace for Las Vegas home listings.

This is good news.  We used to use Las Vegas’ housing affordability as an attraction tool back in the 1990’s and early 2000’s when it was affordable.  It became more challenging during the real estate boom when houses were selling within hours of being listed and the banks were lending to anyone who asked.

See….maybe there is a silver lining in this whole situation.

I love dashboards more than most.  Something that is simple to read and provides a quick glance as to what is going on.  Check out the dashboard below that the Brookings Institute released for Nevada:

If you are interested in reading the commentary behind this dashboard, read the state of the union according to the Brookings Institute (published in the Las Vegas Sun).

With 100,000 (this is my new estimate) new jobs in Las Vegas being created over the next 3-4 years, we all know that affordable workforce housing will become an issue. 

Developer Trammell Crow purchased land from Station Casinos adjacent to the Fiesta Henderson casino.  In exchange, Trammell Crow wants to offer first dibs on apartments to employees of the Fiesta.  No one has stated that they will be at a reduced rate, but my assumption is that was part of the deal.  It appears the deal will come together. 

If that is the case, it is actually a smart approach that other casinos will probably look into.  Why?  Because the majority of the job creation in the upcoming years will be casino jobs.  With the cost of housing increasing in the past several years, affordable housing has become a major issue.  Plus with housing being so close to the gaming properties, this solution may have an impact on traffic as well. 

Are you a major employer in Southern Nevada?  Has the housing issue impacted your ability to attract and retain qualified employees?  The Southern Nevada Regional Planning Coalition has commissioned Restrepo Consulting Group to perform a study pertaining to sustainable workforce and housing availability programs in southern Nevada. In order to gather data that will be of the utmost utility to local and regional planners, RCG through its sub-consultant, Strategic Solutions, is administering a confidential survey to gather information about workforce housing needs.

If you are an employer with more than 400 employees and have not been contacted to participate in this survey, and wish to participate, please contact Jason Gray at (702) 853-1332.