Vegas home buyers, apartment shoppers using Internet more

Phil Levine

Tuesday, May 9, 2000 | 11:07 a.m.

Las Vegas' new home market began the year on a high note, but industry observers say continued success in the residential sector requires acknowledging changes in both technology and the region's demographics.

Industry watchers say a growing number of Las Vegans are turning to alternate methods for home buying information.

In its first quarter new home buyer's survey, Las Vegas-research firm Marketing Solutions found more than 68 percent of respondents said they were on the Internet.

Almost half of those surveyed said they had accessed an Internet site in order to obtain information on new homes in Las Vegas, up from about 30 percent three months ago.

"The number of people who said they were on the Internet jumped 10 percent in just the last quarter," said Marketing Solutions President Steve Bottfeld.

"That number has been growing by about 1 percent per month. We likely won't continue to grow at that rate, but Internet use in Las Vegas continues to rapidly increase."

The Marketing Solutions survey consisted of 500 interviews conducted at 25 new home communities in the Las Vegas valley.

Meanwhile, Las Vegas' home sales market was off to a brisk start this year.

Dennis Smith, president of Las Vegas-based Home Builders Research, said sales of both new and existing homes in Clark County were up during the first two months of the year.

"In January and February, 4,007 existing homes were sold in Clark County," he said. "That's up 18.1 percent from the same period last year."

New home sales increased 4 percent to 2,902 during the same period, up from 2,792 a year earlier.

The state's largest home builders have been quick to recognize the growing role played by the Internet in new home selection.

"We had about $100 million in revenue that was related to Internet sales and promotion," said Carrie Sanchez, spokeswoman for homebuilder Kaufman & Broad Home Corp.

"Our (online) traffic was up 135 percent last year, and of the cities we do business in, Las Vegas is the second biggest user of our site."

Sanchez said K & B's website receives about 13,000 hits per month from Las Vegas and more than 160,000 hits a month nationally.

The company began advertising online two years ago and views the Internet as key method of containing marketing costs.

"The business generated by the Internet allows us to make significant savings in our advertising budget in other media," Sanchez said.

K & B is one of several large real estate players involved in Project Constellation, an e-commerce partnership that also includes Forum Shops at Caesars owner Simon Property Group. The initiative will target consumers who pass through the hundreds of properties nationwide owned by Project Constellation members.

The Internet is also affecting Las Vegas' multi-family housing sector.

Earlier this year, Santa Monica, Calif.-based Viva.com included Las Vegas as one of the first six cities in the launch of its website.

The online company provides registered renters with a list of available apartments, condos and houses in various cities.

"We've been operating in Las Vegas for about five months, and have almost 50,000 (apartment) units registered on the site," said Viva.com President Alan Hunter.

"The initial response (from renters) has been very positive, and we're sure Las Vegas is a market well-suited to our service."

Hunter said that as thousands of people from across the country continue to migrate here, Viva.com can provide online information about available rental properties.

As the industry evolves, so too does the profile of the average Las Vegas home buyer.

The Marketing Solutions survey found the average age of the new home buyer in Las Vegas is 36.7 years old, a full 10 years below the median age of the general population.

The survey found that younger buyers are bringing larger families into the marketplace. Bottfeld said that as little as two years ago, nearly three out of five families shopping for a new Las Vegas home were childless.

But now, nearly three out of five families shopping for a new home have children.

Despite recent stock market turbulence, the survey found that optimism remains pervasive among potential new home buyers. Approximately 55 percent of respondents expect economic conditions to improve over the next six months.

The growing influence of Hispanic home buyers is also being felt in the Las Vegas market. The survey found that 10.8 percent of first quarter home buyers were Hispanic, the highest level recorded in the survey's six-year history.

As demand rises, so too does the median price of a new Las Vegas home. The survey found the median new home price in Metro Las Vegas is about $150,000, another all-time high.

Phil Levine is a business writer for the Sun. He can be reached at (702) 258-4068 or phil@lasvegassun.com