Las Vegas Apartment Rental
Rates decrease in 3rd Quarter
- Vacancy Percentage Rises to 8.9%
From the Las Vegas Sun:
Rental Rates Decrease in Third Quater
RealFacts, a company in Novato, Calif., that tracks rental rates around the country, said the average asking price for apartments in the Las Vegas area in the quarter was $837, down 2.1 percent from $855 in the second quarter and down 5.7 percent from $887 one year ago.
In the Las Vegas area, average prices in the third quarter were $819 in Las Vegas, $872 in North Las Vegas and $968 in Henderson.
Average prices locally ranged from $546 for studios to $1,047 for three-bedrooms.
New Apartments in Mountains Edge - 539 New Units will be added in 2010
And yes… I do know of even more Apartment buildings currently being built to add to the inventory soon.
Renters like New Apartments with the latest amenities so keep that in mind if they are popping up near where you are thinking of investing.
Rents Have Dropped due to economic conditions and increased Inventory
My newest client who is an out of state Las Vegas Real estate investor popped into town to check on the Las Vegas rental homes they own. The tenants suppesedly dissappeared / moved out when they stopped paying their rent several months ago. The out of state investor did not have professional property management taking care of the properties and did not know what was going on until we showed up knocking on the doors and were pleasantly suprised to find that they were still living there.
Lesson learned that if you are an out of state Las Vegas real estate investor… the 10% savings for professional property management could cost you much, much more down the road. In this case, it’s over $6,000 in four months of lost rent… and now there will be eviction costs and another month or two of lost rent.
Looking over what she owes on her mortgages (which are interest only and due to re-set next year), the values dropping by more then $100,000 on each property and the latest rental index for the properties that gives her a negative cash flow… she has made the business decision to short sale the properties since the non-payments of rent have put her in a financial bind.
The point of the matter is… this is just one story of many concerning the economic conditions taking place in Las Vegas with unemployment now reaching 13.9% according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This number does not even consider all of the independent contractors who have taken big cuts in pay, the underemployed and people who have just given up looking for a job.
It is a Great Time to Invest in Las Vegas real estate… but only if the proper fundamentals are followed and use the lowest numbers possible for your cash flow evaluations. Don’t buy just to buy and certainly do not buy into the sales tactic that because there are tons of foreclosures in Las Vegas that these people are going to need rental homes and there will be a huge demand for rentals. It’s just not true…
- As of Today… there are 5,144 rental properties available on the Las Vegas MLS for areas 101 through 606 which includes North Las Vegas, Henderson Real Estate and Summerlin Homes.
The fact of the matter is that we have/had a ton of inventory in vacation homes and speculation homes that people did not even live in to begin with. Be careful and use a Las Vegas real estate agent that can represent you for your best interest for your Las Vegas real estate investment needs.
Paul Francis, CRS
Prudential Americana Group – Realtors®
Las Vegas Real Estate – Summerlin Homes
702.592.3058
