Category Archive : Real Estate

LAS VEGAS, NV – The former home of legendary Las Vegas performers Siegfried & Roy is set to be demolished and replaced with an apartment complex, as voted upon by the City Council last Wednesday.

Las Vegas City Council voted 5-1 to build a 334-unit apartment complex on the 12 acres comprising the former estate – nicknamed “Little Bavaria” – of Siegfried Fischbacher and Roy Horn, located in the northwest Las Vegas Valley of Rancho Drive along Rainbow Boulevard. The estate has been unused since the deaths of the two extravagant performers; Horn, 75, passed away in 2020, followed by Fischbacher the following year at the age of 81.

German-American magicians and entertainers, Fischbacher and Horn gained great fame throughout the 1990’s and early 2000’s for their exciting shows at the Mirage Resort and Casino featuring magical illusions and appearances with white lions and white tigers. The duo retired following Horn’s career-ending injury on his birthday on October 3, 2003, when a white tiger used in their act named Mantacore attacked him.

Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman was the only member of the City Council to vote against demolishing Fischbacher and Horn’s estate, instead suggesting that it should be turned into a park honoring the duo, who were both known for their love and preservation of nature.

Several members of the public at the meeting supported Goodman’s stance as well, but the opposing five members of the City Council were unmoved, with Councilwoman Michele Fiore pointing out that such an undertaking would likely cost upwards of “$30 million,” making it economically unfeasible.

“Unfortunately, there is no reality of a 12-acre park there that we could make or purchase,” Fiore said. “As much as I want to sprinkle fairy dust, I cannot. It can’t be done.”

Fiore did suggest that the eventual apartment complex located upon their estate be named “Siegfried and Roy Place” in honor of Fischbacher and Horn, and that a garden be erected on the property. However, Calida Group – the developer of the upcoming apartment complex – said that naming the building after the entertainers would deviate from the existing naming conventions for their other Southern Nevada properties, but they were willing to work with the Las Vegas City Council to find another way to pay homage to their legacy.

Shelter Realty is a Real Estate and Property Management Company specializing in the areas of Henderson, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, NV. Feel free to give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any questions you may have.

LAS VEGAS, NV – Blackstone Inc., a private equity firm based in New York City, confirmed in an earnings report released last Thursday that their sale of The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas for $5.65 billion – originally announced in September 2021 – was their “most profitable single asset sale ever” in terms of the company’s real estate dealings.

Blackstone had entered into an agreement with MGM Resorts International in 2021 to sell operations of The Cosmopolitan – located on the Las Vegas Strip – for $1.625 billion. In addition, the hotel and casino’s real estate assets were purchased by the Cherng Family Trust, set up by the owners of the fast-food chain Panda Express, for over $4 billion.

As per the deal, MGM Resorts International will run the daily operations of the venue for the next 30 years, with three options to renew their lease once it expires for an additional 10 years each time. MGM will pay the Cherng Family Trust a yearly rent of $200 million, with a yearly increase of two percent for the first 15 years of their lease.

Due to an exemption allowed under a 2007 state law that spares companies from paying tax when property owners transfer real estate to a subsidiary, the Blackstone deal produced no funds in the form of real estate transfer taxes for the city of Las Vegas. This law is essentially a legal loophole that several high-priced resort sales have taken advantage of in recent years, and is an issue that Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak is urging state legislators to address in their next session.

The Cosmopolitan originally opened its doors for business in 2010, and was later sold by owner Deutsche Bank AG to Blackstone in 2014 for $1.73 billion. The firm then put a whopping $500 million into renovating the resort, which features 3,027 rooms, a 110,000 square-foot casino, 300,000 square-feet of retail and restaurant space, a spa and fitness facility, a 3,200-seat theater, and 150,000 square-feet of meeting and convention space.

Shelter Realty is a Real Estate and Property Management Company specializing in the areas of Henderson, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, NV. Feel free to give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any questions you may have.

LAS VEGAS, NV – Due to rising interest rates on home loans marking the end of cheap borrowed money – combined with national inflation currently at a 40-year high – home prices in Las Vegas have actually dropped for the second consecutive month in a row after over a year of consistent, record-setting monthly gains, leading experts to remark that the market in Southern Nevada is “definitely turning.”

In July, the median sales price of previously owned single-family homes was $465,000, representing a drop of 3.1 percent – amounting to $15,000 in value – from June, at which time the median sales price was $480,000, down from $482,000 in May.

However, home prices in July remained 14.8 percent higher year-over-year, which amounts to a $60,000 increase overall. The reality of the last two months can’t be denied, as June’s price drop was the first time home values in Southern Nevada have decreased at all in over two years, and July only served to reinforce that trend.

It remains to be seen if the same occurrence happens in August and prices dip yet again, but the current market is seeing home inventory in the region – previously scarce – steadily rising now as buyers pull back to see what happens next. But buyers still looking to acquire a home in Vegas are now finding themselves with lowered prices and a degree of bargaining power they could only dream of just a few months ago, according to Las Vegas Realtors (LVR) President Brandon Roberts.

“We’re definitely seeing a shift in the housing market. We haven’t seen prices slow down like this in several years,” he said. “This is encouraging news for people looking to buy a home, although rising interest rates and today’s prices still present challenges for many potential buyers.”

2,066 single-family homes sold in Las Vegas in July, a decrease of 22.6 percent from the prior month and 38.4 percent year-over-year. 7,331 were available on the market without offers when July ended, an increase of 27.6 percent from the month before and 143.8 percent from July 2021.

Shelter Realty is a Real Estate and Property Management Company specializing in the areas of Henderson, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, NV. Feel free to give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any questions you may have.

LAS VEGAS, NV – The market for high-rise condominiums in Las Vegas has finally begun to slow after enjoying a period of red-hot activity, reflecting the rest of the cooling real estate scene in Southern Nevada due to rampant national inflation and rising mortgage rates.

While many are anticipating some degree of improvement with the announcement earlier this week that mortgage interest rates have dropped below 5 percent for the first time in months, experts note that the scorching hot Vegas summer is also playing a factor in lower high-rise sales, with fewer people willing to brave the heat at the moment to house-hunt.

According to the Las Vegas Realtors’ Association Multiple Listing Service, 644 high-rise condominiums of five stories and above were closed on through the first six months of 2022, which represents a 2.5 percent increase over the 628 closings in the same period of time in 2021. However, the 87 closings that were recorded in June fall short of the closings achieved year-over-year, with 129 closings taking place in June of 2021.

Since the high-rise condominium sales initially slowed due to the onset of COVID-19 – which can be attributed to buyers wanting more space for the sake of health – the market in Las Vegas became extremely popular as the pandemic began to wane and restrictions aimed at curbing the spread of the virus were dropped.

According to experts who examined 21 high-rises – most located along the famed Las Vegas Strip – there were 618 closings between January and June 2022, which represented a 14.2 percent jump over the same period of time in 2021, when there were 541 closings. This contrasts with the mere 225 closed upon in the first half of 2020, and the 204 in the first half of 2019.

The average sale price of high-rises sold in Vegas in 2022 was $595,508, with a square-foot price of $486.

While the market for high-rise condominiums is indeed showing some degree of cooling with the economic uncertainty in the country, experts are nonetheless predicting the market will remain to perform well, and with the possibility that mortgage rates may be sliding downward slightly, may begin to pick up once again in the very near future.

Shelter Realty is a Real Estate and Property Management Company specializing in the areas of Henderson, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, NV. Feel free to give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any questions you may have.

LAS VEGAS, NV – While the ongoing inflation crisis in the United States, coupled with rapidly-rising interest rates on mortgages, have resulted in the once white-hot housing market significantly cooling in recent months, a ray of sunshine has poked through the clouds as home loan interest rates dropped below 5 percent for the first time in months, providing hope that the market may rebound some for sellers in the near future.

For the past year, home prices and demand in Southern Nevada have surged, breaking records on a monthly basis; however, as inflation has gradually increased along with mortgage rates, the market in Las Vegas has shown some distinct signs of slowing down. But according to this week’s announcement by mortgage buyer Freddie Mac, the average rate on a 30-year mortgage dropped to 4.99 percent, a noticeable reduction from last week’s 5.3 percent.

Interest rates on mortgages have not fallen below 5 percent since April, but while this week’s number is just barely below that level, it has given experts hope that the marketplace is beginning to stabilize to a degree where both buyers and sellers can each find their respective advantages.

Nonetheless, even with this week’s drop, interest rates on mortgages are still much higher than last year’s historically low numbers, and it’s certainly not a sign that cheap money will be on the table once again for those looking to buy a home. But amid slowing sales in Vegas – and growing inventory as a result – continued drops in interest for home loans could once again drive sales, experts say.

However, for the time being, Freddie Mac Chief Economist Sam Khater noted that sellers shouldn’t get their hopes up too much, as loan rates will most likely “remain variable” due to the nature of the nation’s current economic turmoil.

Currently, 2,670 single-family homes were sold in Las Vegas in June, representing an 8 percent drop from the month before and a 25 percent drop year-over-year. The June median sales price was $480,000, a decrease of 0.4 percent from May, and the first time home prices in Southern Nevada have decreased – as opposed to increased – in over two years.

Shelter Realty is a Real Estate and Property Management Company specializing in the areas of Henderson, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, NV. Feel free to give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any questions you may have.

LAS VEGAS, NV – The housing market in Las Vegas, after spending a considerable amount of time on fire, is now not only showing initial signs of cooling, but doing so at a rate that appears to be faster than some other major metropolitan marketplaces in the United States.

Reports indicate that the number of homes in the Southern Nevada region that are being sold are decreasing, and despite the fact that sellers are cutting prices of their homes for sale in an attempt to entice more buyers, the amount of available inventory is starting to increase steadily.

In this, Las Vegas is not alone; after the national real estate market skyrocketed during the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic – with home prices soaring amid fierce competition between buyers, who would regularly drive up prices further by consistently outbidding each other – the country has finally appeared to have reached its breaking point.

High prices, low inventory, and climbing interest rates on home mortgages have finally put many off of searching for a home, with buyers now appearing to be taking a “wait and see” approach as far as what the marketplace’s future holds.

However, Las Vegas seems to be feeling this phenomenon more acutely than many other metro areas in the nation in several key ways; while the overall market in Vegas nonetheless remains competitive, the cracks are showing. For example, in June over 27 percent of pending home sales in Las Vegas failed to go through; while the market is experiencing similar issues from coast-to-coast, the Vegas numbers represent the highest home sale cancellation rate in the country currently.

In addition, 20.3 percent of the homes on sale in Vegas in June had experienced a discount – the fourth-highest number in the country – and inventory increased 22.2 percent month-over-month, the highest increase in the U.S.

This follows one of the hottest stretches of real estate activity in Las Vegas perhaps ever, with home prices and sales consistently breaking records month-after-month, due in-part to record-low interest rates on home loans that allowed buyers to get the most for their money.

But this drop-off in sales in Las Vegas hardly is a death knell; in fact, the overall market in Southern Nevada still remains quite healthy, and mortgage rates – while higher than they were just last year – have dropped off slightly as of late, which could serve to spark a home sales frenzy once again, experts say.

Shelter Realty is a Real Estate and Property Management Company specializing in the areas of Henderson, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, NV. Feel free to give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any questions you may have.

LAS VEGAS, NV – A Spanish Hills “ultra-contemporary” mansion that purportedly offers breathtaking views of the entirety of the Las Vegas Valley has been listed on the open market for $8.9 million.

Located at 5198 Scenic Ridge Drive, the 9,084 square-foot residence – according to Jim Ross, owner of Unique Custom Homes, whose company built the house – is an entirely unique property that has the best views in all of Southern Nevada.

“This property has one of the best views in Las Vegas,” he said. “I wanted to capture those views from every room.”

The mansion began construction in 2017 as a “spec home” and was completed one year later. According to Ross, the residence offers six bedrooms – with two of them being primary suites – along with cutting-edge design techniques that emphasize “clean horizontal lines,” a warm, neutral color palette, distinctive detailing, and eye-catching curb appeal.

5198 SCENIC RIDGE DRIVE, LAS VEGAS – $8,900,000.00

The home’s design showcases “seamless indoor-outdoor living,” with a spacious great room with 12-foot ceilings leading to a formal dining area, gourmet kitchen, and an exterior deck that has retracting glass walls that blur the line between the indoors and outdoors.

There is also a vast wine cellar; a resort-style exterior with a pool with fire edge, covered patio, barbecue area, elevated spa and an outdoor gazebo; oversized four-car garage that can accommodate the installation of vehicle lifts to expand its capacity; and, of course, access to the Spanish Hills’ guard-gated community’s many amenities, including parks, swimming pools, tennis courts, a fitness center and clubhouse.

“The beauty of buying in Spanish Hills is it’s a hidden gem,” listing agent Ivan Sher said. “Whoever buys this not only gets these incredible views, amenities and fully built-out neighborhood but you’re getting it at a price you couldn’t get anywhere else.”

Shelter Realty is a Real Estate and Property Management Company specializing in the areas of Henderson, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, NV. Feel free to give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any questions you may have.

LAS VEGAS, NV – Citing ongoing droughts in the region, the Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) board of directors last Thursday voted 7-0 to support a proposal that, if passed, would limit the construction of new residential pools to 600 square feet; this supports a similar recommendation recently made by the Las Vegas Valley Water District.

Despite opposition from local businesses and homeowners, Clark County Commissioner Justin Jones noted that the water situation in Southern Nevada is reaching a critical juncture at the moment, necessitating the move to limit new pool sizes.

 “We’re in a water crisis,” he said. “We don’t have the luxury of nonfunctional pools right now.”

The Las Vegas Valley Water District had previously voted last Tuesday to approve a service rule change – including the ability to enforce it – that would limit new pools to 600 square feet; this would affect any projects where the construction permits were obtained after September 1, 2022.

But while the SNWA voted to approve a similar measure last Thursday, the agency currently lacks the ability to enforce its ruling; it is merely a show of support for the Las Vegas Valley Water District’s new initiative.

Other municipalities in Southern Nevada are set to vote upon similar measures in the coming months in response to water shortages, including Boulder City in August and North Las Vegas and Henderson in September.

However, stakeholder groups have been critical of the process to establish the new limits on pool construction size; despite the SNWA inviting over 100 pool developers to meetings in March and June, Terence Thornton – project manager at Ozzie Kraft Enterprises Inc. – said that many have stated they felt “shut out” of the process.

“We reached out to SNWA staff and were granted a Zoom meeting,” he said. “During that meeting, we were told that a 600 square-foot size limitation was pretty much a done deal.”

Shelter Realty is a Real Estate and Property Management Company specializing in the areas of Henderson, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, NV. Feel free to give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any questions you may have.

LAS VEGAS, NV – Crystal Pointe Estate – a massive, lavish abode overlooking Lake Tahoe’s Crystal Bay – has been listed on the Nevada real estate marketplace, with the sellers hoping to fetch a massive payday of $64.5 million when or if it sells.

Crystal Pointe Estate, located at 300 Highway 28 in Crystal Bay, is an astounding feat of architecture. The home is a custom, private-gated estate consisting of a huge, 16,232 square-foot main residence, adjoining guest wing, detached garage pavilion and a 3,600 square-foot beach house, all interconnected by two hillside funicular trams enclosed in glass.

The asking price, if met, is record-breaking for the region; the previous record-holder is $56 million for the purchase of the Whittell Estate – including the historic Thunderbird Lodge – that took place back in 1998 by the Del Webb Corporation.

Crystal Pointe Estate was originally the brainchild of Stuart and Geri Yount, a couple who painstakingly designed every aspect of it from the ground-up. After buying the property it stands upon in 1994, the development of the main residence alone took five years; due to permit issues, the beach house took an additional 10 years to finish, having been completed in 2016.

The estate is comprised of 5.1 private acres that includes 525 feet of lakefront with a terraced beach, four buoys and a pier. The house itself has eight bedrooms, 12 baths, formal dining and living rooms, 13 fireplaces, a primary bedroom office with leather door inlays and a Brazilian mahogany library, an old English pub-inspired billiards room with bar, 1,687-bottle wine cellar, game room, movie theater, and caretaker’s apartment.

The home also features floor-to-ceiling windows, custom-designed fireplaces, wood vaulted ceilings, grand wood pillars and custom lighting. Throughout the estate intricate detail abounds and no two rooms look the same, with Geri Yount stating that when designing the home, “We went room by room and I insisted nothing be the same anywhere. Everything in the house is unique to its own space.”

Upon completion of the home, the couple resided there for the 24 years, only recently deciding to put it up for sale in order to move to be closer to their grandchildren.

Shelter Realty is a Real Estate and Property Management Company specializing in the areas of Henderson, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, NV. Feel free to give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any questions you may have.

LAS VEGAS, NV – The Las Vegas home of late comedian Jerry Lewis, which has changed hands several times over the years since his passing, has been listed on the real estate marketplace once again, with its current owner asking for a cool $2.7 million for the former abode of the legendary funnyman.

Lewis had resided in the home – located in Las Vegas’ swanky Scotch 80s neighborhood – for almost 35 years; upon his death in 2017, it initially had difficulty in finding a buyer before eventually being sold to Jane Popple in 2019 for $1.2 million. It was then auctioned off for the sum of $2.5 million, but when the bid fell through, it was listed on the open market for $1.8 million.

Thereafter, the property, 1701 Waldman Ave, Las Vegas, was sold to Iddo Gavish of Century 21 Gavish Real Estate for approximately $1.4 million.

Gavish had spruced up the property before putting it up for sale, modernizing the home – while not taking away from the home’s nostalgia or history, he said – with several large-scale updates due to its need for “rehab and renovation.” The work included a renovation of the landscaping, gates, pool, master bathroom and kitchen.

The home, coming in at 7,230 square-feet and offering an impressive six bedrooms and six bathrooms, will officially be listed on the market this week for $2.7 million

Gavish also noted that he wanted to pay homage to Lewis’ legacy – especially due to his history as a long-time advocate of the Muscular Dystrophy Association with his famous “Jerry’s Kids” fundraisers – by hosting several charity events sponsored by his agency, with the proceeds going to the organization that Lewis represented for so many years.

The main fundraiser will take the form of a “socialthon” – the date of which will be announced – will run on multiple social media platforms, during which supporters can make online donations.

Shelter Realty is a Real Estate and Property Management Company specializing in the areas of Henderson, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, NV. Feel free to give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any questions you may have.

LAS VEGAS, NV – After months and months of an infamously tight inventory driving up prices in the ultra-competitive Las Vegas residential real estate marketplace, that slim inventory is finally showing some signs of growing due to a number of contributing factors, including rising interest rates on home mortgages cooling the market somewhat for the time being.

Previously, Las Vegas has been inundated with constant bidding wars between homebuyers, with some even being willing to purchase a property sight unseen in order to get an edge; low inventory, combined with historically-low interest rates on home loans, were seen as the main driving factors of the home buying frenzy.

However – due to rate increases on the part of the Federal Reserve to combat skyrocketing national inflation – the interest rate on a standard 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is currently hovering near the 6 percent mark; this is a big increase compared to the same point in time one year prior, when rates averaged just 2.93 percent.

According to Jennifer Graff, founder of New Home Experts Las Vegas with Coldwell Banker, now that money is growing more expensive to borrow, it’s little surprise that the demand for housing is starting to show signs of dropping, leading to increases in overall home inventory in Vegas.

“About $480,000 right now is essentially the median home price for here in Las Vegas,” Graff said. “So when you take into account, when we talked back in January, to when we’re speaking today…that payment for your average conventional loan is up almost $1,000 for that $480,000 home.”

Experts say that at the tail end of 2021, a monthly mortgage payment of $2,500 could get you a home worth $517,000; however, with interest rates currently being what they are, that same monthly payment could only get you a home valued at $400,000.

However, Graff noted that Las Vegas will always remain a hot real estate market, and she expects that the current economic woes facing the nation will do little more in Southern Nevada than stabilize the market.

“We have about 5,600 homes on the market right now,” she said. “That is almost double from last year.”

Shelter Realty is a Real Estate and Property Management Company specializing in the areas of Henderson, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, NV. Feel free to give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any questions you may have.

LAS VEGAS, NV – Amid skyrocketing rents in Las Vegas driving very real cost-of-living concerns, two new affordable housing apartment complexes – both being constructed by the same developer – are set to open soon, allowing families and individuals on a budget a way to put a roof over their heads.

Decatur Commons Family and Decatur Commons Senior – neighboring buildings located at Decatur Boulevard and U.S. Highway 95 near Meadows Mall that are being developed by Nevada HAND will offer 480 residential units between them both when the $110 million project is completed.

Nevada HAND President and CEO Audra Hamernik noted on Friday that development on both apartment complexes will be finished by August; tenants have already started to rent and move into units in February, she said.

Las Vegas has a very real need for more affordable housing options for its residents; high demand, limited inventory, and rapidly-rising prices have created a serious issue for many families looking for a place to live that fits within their budgets, already stretched thin by record-breaking national inflation. However, Hamernik said the company is doing whatever it can to cater to families priced out of the typical Vegas real estate market.

Currently, the average rent for a home in the region was $1,847 in May, representing a 18.8 percent increase from the same period of time one year prior; however, as per Hamernik, the average rent of a unit in one of Nevada HAND’s properties is just $733 per month.

Hamernik said that Nevada HAND receives constant contact from Las Vegas residents looking for affordable housing options; the company currently has a portfolio in the city spanning 4,700 units, but vacancies are rare due to the highly-competitive pricing.

“The demand is just outpacing our supply,” she said.

For more information on the coming Decatur Commons Family and Decatur Commons Senior communities visit https://www.nevadahand.org or call them at (702) 739-3345.

Shelter Realty is a Real Estate and Property Management Company specializing in the areas of Henderson, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, NV. Feel free to give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any questions you may have.