MV Real Estate Market Is Hot But Not Overheating

By VERNON ROBISON

Moapa Valley Progress

Solid and steady: that is how local real estate professionals have described the current state of the market in Moapa Valley. And for the most part, they are quite content with that. Over the past year, local realtors say they have seen a reliable stream of buyers that have kept their sales brisk.

“It is not going crazy like it did back in the boom years (2004-2006),” said Clea Whitney of McKesson Realty in Overton. “But, you know, I really don’t want it to be over the top like that. I has just been a good, solid market and things are moving.”

Whitney, who has worked in the industry for 13 years now, said that last year was actually one of the very best in her career. She made $14 million in sales just herself.
“I think that things are healthy and it is going in the right direction,” she said.

Janet Marshall, owner/broker at Foremost Realty in Logandale, agreed. She remarked that the market has been especially strong as the warmer spring months have commenced this year.
“When we always say that the spring real estate market is good around here, it is really true,” Marshall said. “And this year it has been phenomenal.”

The pleasant weather of spring seems to bring people out from the city looking for a more peaceful way of life, Marshall said.
“We have seen a lot of that,” she said. “People who have a desire for a simpler, more rural livestyle versus the noise and hub-bub of the city. There are a lot of people who just are drawn to small town living. And we are glad to help them to get here.”

This desire for escape from the urban to the rural has apparently been strengthening particularly in recent months given certain developments taking place in Las Vegas.
“I think a lot of people are concerned about the Raiders coming to Las Vegas,” Clea Whitney said. “I think that has actually pushed a lot of people out this way. The Las Vegas valley has had a lot of California people moving in. So the Vegas people are looking for some space and coming out here.”

One of the challenges throughout the region in the current real estate market is a shortage in inventory of mid-range homes. This scarcity has especially been felt in Las Vegas.
“In that $200,000-250,000 price range the houses in Vegas are hard to find right now,” Marshall said. “There just are not hardly any. So they are seeing competing offers on listings that come up. Properties fly out of inventory pretty quickly.”

To some extent that same scarcity exists here in the Moapa Valley as well.
“It has been hard,” Whitney said. “I’ve had people come out looking for a median-sized home. They have a good job and are ready to buy something for their family. But I don’t have anything in their price range to show them. There are not enough houses out here that fit an average family.”

Even so, the local market hasn’t reached the same fevered pitch as exists in Las Vegas – even in that median price range.
“We are not quite like in Las Vegas yet,” Whitney said. “We aren’t seeing the bidding wars take place. Listings still are waiting three to four months to find a buyer. If the price is right, and it is the right kind of property, I have seen them move within in the first 30 days. But either way, they are selling.”

Whitney said that the Moapa Valley has always followed the trends of the Las Vegas market, though usually somewhat delayed. So she expects things to get busier.

Both realtors said that they have seen a significant increase in land purchases over the past six months or so. This may mean that more homebuilding is on the way for Moapa Valley.
“In fact, it has already been happening, just little by little,” Whitney said. “I’ve seen more building going on in the past year than we have seen in years. So that is encouraging.”