Rising cost of homes concerns growth task force

Wednesday, June 23, 2004 | 10:48 a.m.

Discussion of sprawling development, decaying urban neighborhoods and a diminishing stock of affordable housing for Southern Nevada's families dominated Tuesday's meeting of the Clark County Growth Task Force.

The task force members found that all three topics were connected to one degree or another with the region's rocketing pace of growth, and that all three have affected the area's quality of life. The members also looked at possible solutions to the three issues, a move away from the last several months of meetings in which the task force mostly focused on learning about the agencies tackling various growth-related issues.

One issue that actually may slow the growth rate was a primary target for discussion. Over the last year, new-home prices have risen by more than 19 percent, to a median cost of more than $239,000 -- a price out of reach for many Las Vegas families.

The issue of affordable -- or "attainable" -- housing for middle class would-be homeowners prompted task force member Jane Feldman, an environmentalist with the local arm of the Sierra Club, to point out that investors speculating on housing might be driving up the cost of housing, but that is not the central problem.

"There are just so many people moving here," Feldman said.

She also asked if there are legal strategies to stop real-estate speculation. The answer, according to Mary Miller, Clark County counsel, is no.

"That would be a nationwide restraint of trade issue," Miller said. "I don't know if it's constitutional, but it's definitely illegal."

Douglas Bell, Clark County community resources manager, told the task force members that interest among developers in providing lower-cost housing has virtually disappeared. Bringing affordable housing to the public already requires a multi-pronged approach to bringing federal and local funding to offset housing costs, he said.

"To make affordable housing work, it's subsidy, subsidy, subsidy," Bell said.

Jay Bingham, a developer and a former Clark County commissioner, said the problem with the subsidies is that the process for obtaining them is difficult to navigate. For most developers, he said, it isn't worth it.

Developers put their time "where you can get the best bang for your money," Bingham said.

"It's hard to take the time to get government funds," he said. "It's just not worth it."

Still, Bingham noted that the market is driving many people away.

A 1,000-square-foot condominium that eight months ago sold for a little over $100,000 is now selling for $180,000, he said.

The problem may be self-correcting, said Hal Rothman, a University of Nevada at Las Vegas professor and task force member. Rothman said speculators are driving up the market, and the market may fall back when the investment bubble bursts.

He noted that one of the by-products of the growth in housing costs is a factor in bursting the bubble.

"The higher the cost is, the fewer the number of people who will want to move here," Rothman said. "It's a real conundrum."

Another issue that the task force examined is the condition of older urban neighborhoods. One of the answers to development sprawling in the desert is to make the urban core more attractive to homeowners. The problem, Feldman said, is that some of those neighborhoods lack services to attract families.

The related issue of sprawl is not just bad for the environment, but it is bad for governments that have to provide services farther and farther out into the desert, a trend that drives up the cost of those services, Clark County Comprehensive Planning Director Barbara Ginoulias told the task force.

Jacob Snow, general manager of the Regional Transportation Commission, told the group that one way to maximize the efficiency of land-use plans would be to build the agency's hoped-for light-rail commuter system.

The corridors for those systems, which the agency hopes to build to connect downtown Henderson to the Las Vegas urban core and eventually North Las Vegas, are hothouses for investment, Snow said. Residential development and commercial investment follow the transportation systems, he said.

He said the RTC hopes to secure $125 million in federal funding for the commuter line. Local governments could provide much of the required local match through providing land for the systems, Snow said.