More Nevadans owning homes

Friday, May 18, 2001 | 10:57 a.m.

The percentage of owner-occupied Nevada housing units is on the rise, as are households headed by women or those with relatives who don't fit the model of the typical nuclear family.

In Nevada 60.9 percent of the housing units were occupied by the owner last year, an 11 percent jump over 1990's 54.8 percent. The increase in Clark County was somewhat larger -- almost 14 percent -- over the 10-year period and stood at 59.l percent owner-occupied last year, according to housing statistics released as part of the 2000 Census.

Local housing industry observers saw that as a positive for Nevada, even though the state lags behind the national average of 66.2 percent. The difference was that the national average rose by only 3 percent since 1990, meaning Nevada is closing the gap in this category.

"I'm surprised it didn't grow faster than that here," said Dennis Smith, president of Home Builders Research in Las Vegas. "We have seen an increase in home ownership because of our in-migration. People are moving here for the greener pasture and job growth."

Stephen Bottfeld, executive vice president of the Las Vegas consumer-research company Marketing Solutions, said local job growth has brought with it higher education and income levels. He referred to it as "upward economics," which he said has translated to the higher percentage of home ownership.

"We also have a great group of home builders, and the regional companies that have come in have taken the time to learn the market," Bottfeld said. "Our housing prices are also a bargain, so it's not surprising to see a major increase in home ownership."

Many senior citizens moving to Nevada were previous homeowners and are also buying homes in Las Vegas, said Monica Caruso, spokeswoman for the Southern Nevada Home Builders Association.

Whether Nevada will continue to see an increase in the percentage of owner-occupied units over the next decade is questionable. Caruso said that with the median home in the valley selling for $168,900 and with housing prices rising more than 9 percent annually many Nevadans are getting priced out of the market.

On other price pressures have come from consolidation of the Southern Nevada home-building industry, which has lost about 60 builders in the past two years, she said. Home buyers are also paying for the free land for schools, parks and other community amenities, Caruso said.

"For every $1,000 increase in the price of a home about 1,200 families are priced out of the market," Caruso said. "The price of land has escalated significantly over the past several years. Back in 1978 land in the Las Vegas metropolitan area was about $5,000 an acre, and now it's between $70,000 and $125,000."

More women have also become heads of households over the past 10 years, though they lag slightly behind the national average. In Nevada, 11.1 percent of women are running households where no mate is present, a 9 percent gain since 1990. Clark County's average climbed only 5 percent, but stood at 11.8 percent last year, just below the national average of 12.2 percent.

Increases in the percentage of women who head households are an indication of their changing role in society, Bottfeld said. "Women are a much stronger economic force than ever," he said. "Not only can they afford the house but all the things that go into it."

Keith Schwer, director of UNLV's Center for Business and Economic Research, also said there are potential problems with the rise in single-parent households.

"One advantage of having two parents in a household is greater capacity for income," Schwer said. "When you have a single parent, they tend to be more economically vulnerable. If that parent gets sick, it puts that household in a dire situation."

Another trend that bears watching has been the sharp increase in Nevada of households that contain relatives outside the typical nuclear family. This could include an adult or couple who live with a parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle or cousin.

Such living arrangements represented only 6.7 percent of all Nevada households last year, but that was a nearly 37 percent jump from the 4.8 percent of such households in 1990. Clark County over the past decade rose 34 percent in this category to 7.4 percent in 2000, whereas the national average rose only about 16 percent to 5.6 percent of all households.

"I wonder how much of that is attributed to the increase in the Hispanic population," Schwer said. "The people coming from Mexico have tended to live with their extended family much like the way most Americans lived 100 years ago."

Bottfeld also said the parents of baby boomers are living longer and many have chosen to move into their children's homes while maintaining a sense of independence. The nation's higher divorce rate also could be a factor, he said.

"You're also getting a lot of adult kids coming back to the nest," Bottfeld said. "We have a lot of three-adult households, and I think that will be a steadily increasing part of our population."