LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — As home prices continue to rise across our valley, so do the worries of hopeful homeowners.
Just how high are the prices and what's being done to help our community? I dug into local and state programs, as well as Clark County housing information, and found out.
“It was a little bit tougher to get our offer accepted and try to look competitive," said Patryk Igras, who just moved to Las Vegas three months ago.
Igras and Nicole Cioca moved from Pennsylvania and just purchased their first home.
“It’s been a little discouraging to see how much the house prices have risen in that time," Cioca said.
Cioca has been interested in the valley since her family moved here in the early 2000s, but she saw a big change after her aunt and uncle bought a home in 2015.
“As it is right now, they’ve seen a 100% increase in their home’s value since that time," Cioca said.
According to Las Vegas Realtors statistics for the month of September, the average price for a single-family home is $479,900.
Compared to last September, prices used to be $450,000 for the average single-family home. That's up 6.6%.
The current average home price is just short of the all-time high, which was recorded in May 2022 at $482,000.
When Cioca's family purchased their home, the average single-family home would have been around $200,000. That was just nine years ago.
What has led to rising house prices? Experts tell me it's a combination of several issues:
Not enough land to build on with 63% of the state managed by the Bureau of Land Management, not enough affordable housing, and a greater housing demand than homes available.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Experts break down the housing crisis in our community. What are the glaring issues?
“We don’t need to educate folks that there is a problem anymore; we need to educate and communicate to folks that there are solutions out there," said Nevada Housing Division Administrator Steve Aichroth.
“It’s a combination of zoning, it’s a combination of permitting, it’s a combination of federal land and obtaining land availability, and it’s the incentive programs that we put together similar to today," said Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo.
Those are some of the ways Lombardo and the state are looking to mitigate this issue. One of the incentives is the Home is Possible Program.
“Without the program, I don’t think we would have been able to get into a house and to have that opportunity," said Kassi Johnson, who just purchased a home through Home is Possible.
Kassi and her husband Trevor Johnson are 22 and 23 years old. They've always dreamed of owning a home, but before they were interested in the program, they told me they never thought this was possible.
The Home is Possible program is a statewide assistance program helping first-time homebuyers.
Here's a list of the benefits offered through this program:
- Down payment assistance of up to 4% of the total loan amount
- Usable for down payment and closing costs
- 30 year non-forgivable
- Attractive 30-year fixed interest rate
Here's a list of the requirements to qualify for this program:
- Must be a first-time homebuyer (have not owned a home in the past three years)
- Maximum purchase price & income limits by county (Government Loans)
- Minimum credit score of 640
- Maximum debt ratio up to 50% based on credit score and loan type
- Must live in the home as the primary residence
- Must meet standard underwriting requirements
- Must complete homebuyer education course
Here are the income restrictions to qualify in Clark County
- Maximum home purchase price: $510,939
- Maximum household income: $95,200 (2 or fewer people)
- Maximum household income: $109,480 (3 or more people)
The program indicates certain portions of the county may have higher household income limits.
Since the program began in 2014, they have helped 30,000 sets of families purchase a new home. The Johnsons are the 30,000th homebuyers through the program.
The couple received a ceremonial key to their newly purchased home from Gov. Lombardo during a special event outside of their home in the southeast valley Monday.
Aichroth also awarded them a special engraved cutting board and a gift card to Home Depot.
Several people still searching for a home tell me they hope changes will come to make homeownership in our valley more affordable.
