Strong Housing Market Push Interest Rates Skyward - but It's Still a Great Time to Buy - LV Luxury Condos | High-Rise Condominiums To Own In Las Vegas
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ONE LAS VEGAS

Strong Housing Market Push Interest Rates Skyward – but It’s Still a Great Time to Buy

Most economists and real estate professionals keeping their finger on the pulse of Las Vegas’ housing market agree that our market is healthy and thriving. The city, long considered a top destination for vacationers and conventioneers, is also now a top destination for home ownership thanks to a number of factors, including strong job and population growth, the addition of professional sports and a dining and entertainment scene unlike any other in the world, just to name a few. It’s no wonder Las Vegas’ appeal also means rising home prices, which means now is the time to make the switch from renting to owning in the Entertainment Capital of the World.

While single-family home prices are inching higher, homes in Las Vegas are still priced 20 percent below their 2006 pre-recession peak pricing and that is especially true for first-generation condominium homes which are still selling well below replacement cost. And the market continues to be one of the strongest in the nation.  According to a recent Yahoo! Finance article, Southern Nevada is still among one of the most affordable metropolitan areas for homeownership in the U.S.

 

“People are coming to Las Vegas. We have been seeing major job creation and diversification in industries,” said Chris Bishop, president of the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors. “All those things together led to a perfect storm.”

While Las Vegas is still considered affordable, relative to other major metropolitan areas, home prices are indeed on the rise. In September 2018, Las Vegas home prices were up 13.5 percent year-over-year, more than double the national rate, according to the latest S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller index and a December Las Vegas Review-Journal article.

 

“Today’s homebuyers may be less than-thrilled with the recent uptick in interest rates, but by comparison, buyers today should appreciate what their parents endured in the 1970s and 80s during the era of Jimmy Carter and double-digit inflation,” said Uri Vaknin, a partner at KRE Capital LLC, whose company, in partnership with Dune Real Estate Partners, purchased a collection of high-rise communities.  “A 16 percent interest rate was not uncommon then. Just ask your parents!”

Here’s an eye-opening graph to demonstrate just how low interest rates are today (courtesy: Mortgage-X.com).

 

According to Vaknin, his Las Vegas high-rise communities also offer the widest variety of financing programs designed to help first-time buyers achieve home ownership.

“We partner with The Federal Savings Bank, one of the largest privately held veteran-owned banks in the United States and are proud to offer Fannie Mae financing at The Ogden and One Las Vegas, FHA financing at The Ogden, as well as VA financing and traditional 15- and 30-year financing at The Ogden, One Las Vegas and Juhl,” said Vaknin. “And thanks to our condo communities’ unique and varied floorplans, resort-style amenities and the attention to detail to lifestyle programming and activities, the communities are filled with happy homeowners living the American Dream. So while rates might be on the rise, living and owning a home in Las Vegas is still like hitting the jackpot!”