Nevada’s housing prices remain at record highs. The median home price in Las Vegas soared to $485,000 in January, marking an all-time peak.
Developers argue they could help ease the affordability crisis — if they had more land. But there’s a twist.
The Southern Nevada Regional Transportation Commission, or RTC, conducted a study revealing that nearly 80,000 acres of developable land is already available within city and county limits.
It raises a key question: Are we really short on land, or are we just not using it effectively? Should Nevada focus on in-fill development, or expanding the urban footprint? And what’s the real solution to making homes more affordable?
Tina Frias, CEO of the Southern Nevada Home Builders Association, thinks the core of the issue is supply and demand. “The federal government controls more than 80 percent of land throughout Nevada,” she said.
“We are one of the fastest growing communities in the nation and the demand is tremendously high,” Frias added. “We don’t have enough supply currently to meet that demand. If we don’t get more land, we’re going to continue to see rising costs in homes.”
Mark Ford, a local public lands consultant with Abbey Stubbs & Ford, echoed the supply-and-demand issue.
“The average price per acre [of Bureau of Land Management-owned] land is over 400,000; and that’s just beginning bids,” Ford said.
“That’s not attainable or affordable. Because our market is so constrained by what is offered by the federal government, prices keep going up and up.”
However, Vinny Spotleson, Chair of the Sierra Club Toiyabe Chapter, said it’s not sustainable to keep building outward when considering Nevada’s ongoing water shortage.
“Of the total water we use in the valley, 60 percent of [that] water is used outdoors. Building and development will have drip irrigation systems that will use water,” Spotleson said.
He added that vertical, mixed-use developments would be a better alternative. “The largest source of air pollution in our valley are cars and trucks. The more you stretch a city’s boundaries out, the more pollution comes into the valley.”
“If we build for density, we can make it possible for people to not even own a car,” he added.
Deborah Reardon, regional planning manager with the RTC, acknowledges that in-fill development can be more expensive. But, she noted that when mass transportation is factored in, it can create compounding benefits.
“By locating more jobs and homes near transit, there is the potential for ridership to increase and have better utility out of the existing RTC transit system,” Reardon said.
The issue has caught the attention of both state and federal officials, leading to legislative efforts.
In January, former President Biden signed the Accelerating Appraisals and Conservation Efforts Act, sponsored by Congresswoman Susie Lee. The law allows private appraisers from other states to conduct land appraisals in Nevada, aiming to speed up the process and ease development bottlenecks.
In another bill, introduced in March, Senator Catherine Cortez Masto reintroduced the Southern Nevada Economic Development and Conservation Act in Congress. If passed, it would free up to 25,000 acres of federal land for sale to private developers, while also protecting over two million acres for conservation.
Guests: Tina Frias, CEO, Southern Nevada Home Builders Association; Vinny Spotleson, chair, Sierra Club Toiyabe Chapter; Mike Ford, co-founder, Abbey, Stubbs and Ford; Deborah Reardon, regional planning manager, Regional Transportation Commission
