Nevada

New grants seek to help Nevada homebuyers with down payments amid uncertain housing market

Published

12 months ago

March 21, 2025

New grants seek to help Nevada homebuyers with down payments amid uncertain housing market

LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Many prospective homebuyers feel like they’ve been priced out of Southern Nevada’s real estate market, with prices continuing to escalate–the median home price in Las Vegas is currently almost half a million dollars.

Owning a home is still a part of the American Dream, though, and a new investment in Nevada is hoping to make it easier for people to purchase a house.

The Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco (FHLBank San Francisco) recently announced a $10 million investment into Nevada’s affordable housing system, which will provide up to $50,000 grants to help homebuyers–especially first-time homebuyers–with their down payments.

WATCH: Channel 13’s Guy Tannenbaum talks to mortgage brokers and realtors about grants for homebuyers

New grants seek to help Nevada homebuyers with down payments amid uncertain housing market

In a statement released Monday, Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo said: “Attainable homeownership for all Nevadans is one of my highest priorities and we can’t do this alone. The partnership and commitment of FHLBank San Francisco through this investment will give stability to many of Nevada’s essential workers.”

“When I got the call about [the grants], I was excited,” said Maya Diaz. “Based on how the market is, it just helps with people maybe being able to qualify for more.”

Jeff Newbury is Senior Vice President of Mortgage Lending at Greater Nevada Mortgage, one of the lenders distributing the grants. He calls any home buying assistance transformational, especially amid so much market uneasiness.

“For a middle-income family, that is a massive, massive boost, because housing can positively contribute into so many other areas,” Newbury said. “When people put roots down, they tend to build strong communities. I think that’s what you see with this program, first-time homebuyers and working families getting into this opportunity, and building roots in our communities.”

So, how do you qualify? You have to make between 80.01% and 140% of the median income in your area.

According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the median family income in Clark County is $87,800. That means if your family makes between just over $70,200 and $122,290 per year, you can qualify for these grants.

And, because they’re grants, that means buyers don’t have to pay them back, which real estate agents and mortgage brokers can be a huge benefit for people on the market.

However, local mortgage broker Reynaldo Herrera thinks the tight requirements for these new grants might get people’s hopes up who don’t qualify, especially in a climate where buyers are looking for any help they can get.

“This is just my opinion, to me, it’s as equivalent as going to a casino and trying to win a jackpot,” Herrera said. “A very limited number of people are going to access that capital, but for those limited people, it’s going to be huge.”

Diaz, the local Realtor, is more optimistic though, and says even if you’re not sure if you qualify for these grants, it doesn’t hurt to ask your real estate agent or your mortgage broker.

“I think it is going to help a lot of people,” Diaz said. “I’ve already reached out to three of my clients who’ve been waiting, as soon as I mentioned the grant, they were like, wait a minute I think my sister wants to buy and they were saying a bunch of people might want to buy.”

For more information on the new grants, click here to read the full press release from Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo’s office.

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Nevada

Earthquake swarm rattles central Nevada near Tonopah along newly identified fault

Published

8 hours ago

March 4, 2026

Press Room

Earthquake swarm rattles central Nevada near Tonopah along newly identified fault

A swarm of earthquakes has been rattling a remote stretch of central Nevada near Tonopah, including a magnitude 4.0 quake that hit near Warm Springs Tuesday morning.

Seismologists said the activity is typical for Nevada, where clusters of earthquakes can flare up in a concentrated area. “This is a very Nevada-style earthquake sequence. We have these a lot where we just see an uptick in activity in a certain spot,” said Christie Rowe, director of the Nevada Seismological Lab.

The latest magnitude 4.0 quake struck east of Tonopah near Warm Springs. The largest earthquake in the swarm so far has measured a 4.2.

What has stood out to researchers is the fault involved. Rowe said the earthquakes are occurring along a fault stretching along the southern edge of the Monitor and Antelope ranges — and that it was previously unknown to scientists. “We didn’t know this fault was there. It’s a new fault to us — not to the Earth, obviously — but it was previously unknown,” Rowe said.

For now, the earthquakes have remained moderate. Rowe said the lab would not deploy additional temporary sensors unless activity increases to around a magnitude 5 or greater.

Seismologists said they are continuing to watch the swarm closely as Nevada works to bring the ShakeAlert early warning system to the state. The program, already active in neighboring states, can send cellphone alerts seconds before shaking arrives. “For me, it’s a really high priority. That distance to the faults gives us enough time to warn people — and that can make a big difference in reducing injuries and damage,” Rowe said.

Seismologists encouraged anyone who feels shaking to report it through the U.S. Geological Survey’s “Did You Feel It” system, saying even small quakes can help scientists better understand Nevada’s seismic activity.

Experts said the swarm is worth monitoring but is not cause for alarm. They noted that earthquakes like the 5.8 that hit near Yerington in December 2024 typically happen in Nevada about every eight to 10 years, and said they will continue monitoring the current activity closely.

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Nevada

Kalshi Enforcement Action Belongs in Nevada Court, Judge Says

Published

20 hours ago

March 3, 2026

Press Room

Kalshi Enforcement Action Belongs in Nevada Court, Judge Says

Nevada state court is the proper venue for reviewing whether KalshiEX LLC is improperly accepting sports wagers without a license, a federal district court said.

The Nevada Gaming Control Board showed that the state statutes under which it seeks relief don’t require interpreting federal law, Judge Miranda M. Du of the US District Court for the District of Nevada said in a Monday order. The board’s action is now remanded to the First Judicial District Court in Carson City, Nev., the order said.

The board in 2025 urged Kalshi, a financial services company, to get a gaming license, but the …

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Nevada

EDITORIAL: Nevada still vulnerable as tourist downturn continues

Published

1 day ago

March 3, 2026

Press Room

EDITORIAL: Nevada still vulnerable as tourist downturn continues

Strip gaming executives can put their best spin on the numbers, but local tourism indicators remain a major concern. Casino operators seeking to draw more people through the door still have much work to do.

The Nevada Gaming Control Board released January gaming numbers Friday. The news was underwhelming. The state gaming win was down 6.6 percent from a year earlier. The Strip took the largest hit, an 11 percent drop. But the gloomy returns were spread throughout Clark County: Downtown Las Vegas was off 5.2 percent, Laughlin suffered a 3.3 percent decline and the Boulder Strip dipped by 7 percent.

For the current fiscal year, gaming tax collections are up a paltry
2.1 percent, below budget projections.

The red flags include more than gaming numbers. Recently released figures for 2025 reveal that visitation to Las Vegas fell nearly 8 percent from 2024, which represented the lowest total since the pandemic in 2021. Traffic at Reid International Airport fell more than 10 percent in December and was down 6 percent for the year. Strip occupancy rates fell 3 percent in 2025.

To be fair, this is not just a Las Vegas problem. International travel to the United States was down
4.8 percent in January, Forbes reported, the ninth straight month of decline. Travel from Europe fell 5.2 percent, and passenger counts from Asia fell 7.5 percent. Canadian tourism cratered by 22 percent.

No doubt that President Donald Trump’s blustery rhetoric has played a role in the decline, but there’s more at work. International tourism has been largely flat since Barack Obama’s last few years in office. But domestic travel has held relatively steady although it is “starting to cool,” according to the U.S. Travel Association. Las Vegas hasn’t been helped by high-profile complaints last year about exorbitant Strip prices for parking, bottled water and other staples. Casino operators responded by offering discounts, particularly for locals, and they’ll need to continue those policies into 2026.

The tourism downturn has ramifications for the state budget, which relies primarily on sales and gaming tax revenues to support spending plans. “Nevada’s employment and economic challenges reflect deep structural factors that extend beyond cyclical economic fluctuations,” noted a recent report by economic analyst John Restrepo. “The state’s extreme concentration in tourism and gaming creates unique vulnerabilities.”

The irony is that state and local politicians have been talking for the past half century about “diversifying” the state economy. In recent years, that effort has primarily consisted of handing out millions in tax breaks and other incentives to attract businesses to the state. A dispassionate observer might ask whether that approach has brought an adequate return on investment.

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