Las Vegas is no longer affordable for many residents as elections approach

María Isabel Nicías has had the same dream since she moved to Las Vegas more than ten years ago.

“I want to be a homeowner,” said the 58-year-old, who recently campaigned in North Las Vegas for the Culinary Union. “That’s the dream, that’s the American dream. “

But things have not gone as planned, because Macías had to move in with her sister, and the chef who works at Caesars Palace said that her dream will go further and further away every year and her monthly expenses do not keep up with his salary. Now she feels like she could always be stuck with rent and not amassing wealth through mortgage payments.

“Everything has gone up, the water, the garbage, the electricity,” he said. “It’s getting harder and harder all the time. “

Macias said he will vote for Democrat Kamala Harris and one of the main reasons is Harris’ plan to cut $25,000 down payment assistance to home buyers for 400,000 Americans so they can enter the housing market.

Las Vegas is in the midst of a housing crisis and affordability has become the biggest issue with the election just days away. Both Harris and Trump have offered starkly different visions of how to fix the economy, and voters are now almost split 50/50 on who is best suited to handle it the affordable case.

John Restrepo, a principal at RCG Economics, an economic consulting firm based in Las Vegas, said housing data from the past decade in the Valley tells a compelling story and matches Macias’ frustrations.

“While Clark County was considered to have an affordable housing market for many years, that is no longer the case,” he said. “For example, in 2014, the median resale price was $172,800 and the average interest rate on a 30-year mortgage was 4.3%.

Mortgage rates rose back above 7%, according to recent data from Redfin, even after the Federal Reserve cut rates for the first time in two years, a move that was widely expected to help affordable for the average American. Although mortgage rates are not directly linked to interest rates, the Redfin report said that elevated mortgage rates now indicate a risk of future inflation.

‘Lots’ of public land

Albert Avalos, a Henderson resident who attended Trump’s rally Thursday, said Trump’s plans on the economy will help Nevada’s housing crisis.

“Houses will be a lot cheaper just by fixing the economy and fixing the energy,” Avalos said.

Las Vegas resident Justin Trippiedi said he doesn’t know much about Trump’s housing plans, but he knows the rent is “terrible.” He likes Trump’s plans to eliminate tip taxes.

Mylissa Kurz, a Las Vegas resident dressed as Morticia Addams, said Trump hoped to make housing more affordable, but said there are more pressing issues to deal with, such as the border and “getting rid of the Evil Democrats.”

When told about Trump’s plan to open up federal land for more housing development, Trippiedi said he thinks it’s a good idea.

“There are too many, to be honest,” Trippiedi said. “There’s too much government land out there. If it’s absolutely necessary for the ecosystem, that’s fine. But just to have miles and miles of land, what do we do with it?”

‘It’s out of my reach’

Ivory Lay, who campaigned in North Las Vegas with Macias and has worked at the Starbucks at the Vdara Hotel & Spa on the Strip for nearly 30 years, said her story is one of severance pay and living expenses.

“So during the pandemic my rent was $1,200 for a two-bedroom house,” she said of her home near Summerlin, where she lives with her two children. “And every year it’s gone up from there and now I’m at $1,701. They’ve added all these different taxes, now they’re making me pay for trash, they’ve added HOA fees. “It was little by little and I mean, God forbid, I’ll get sick or something and I won’t be able to pay the rent.”

Lay, who will also vote for Harris, said that she has a simple dream like Macias, that she wants to own a home and that she could benefit her children financially by giving them her equity.

“Right now it really feels like it’s out of my reach,” he said. “It just doesn’t feel accessible anymore.”

Redfin recently reported that only a third of renters nationwide have a place that costs them less than $1,000, the lowest share ever. In the Las Vegas Valley in particular, in 2019 approximately 32.5% of renters had a monthly payment of less than $1,000, a figure that is now 17.8%.

Restrepo said that the idea that no one should spend more than 30% of their monthly income on rent or mortgage payments means that Las Vegas has changed economically.

“Assuming that the mortgage payment does not exceed the recommended 30% of the gross monthly household income, it clearly cannot be said that there is an affordable housing market in a metropolitan area Las Vegas, based on the most recent percentages of the relationship between family income. and mortgage mentioned above,” he said.

“This situation has a number of economic, political and social implications for the region that can only be resolved by significantly increasing housing supply, improving median household income or a combination of both. “This is clearly easier said than done, especially given the structural nature of the workforce and the limited supply of private developable land in the metropolitan area.”