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.
A recent Review-Journal letter to the editor mischaracterized Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto’s Southern Nevada Economic Development and Conservation Act, also known as the Clark County Lands bill. As the former executive director of the Nevada Conservation League, I wholeheartedly support this legislation, so I wanted to set the record straight.
Sen. Cortez Masto has been working on this bill for years in partnership with state and local governments, conservation groups like the NCL and local area tribes. It’s true that the Clark County lands bill would open 25,000 acres to help Las Vegas grow responsibly, while setting aside 2 million acres for conservation. It would also help create more affordable housing throughout the valley while ensuring our treasured public spaces can be preserved for generations to come.
What is not correct is that the money from these land sales would go to the federal government’s coffers. In fact, the opposite is true.
The 1998 Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act is a landmark bill that identified specific public land for future sale and created a special account ensuring all land sale revenues would come back to Nevada. In accordance with that law 5 percent of revenue from land transfers goes to the state of Nevada for general education purposes, 10 percent goes to the Southern Nevada Water Authority for needed water infrastructure and 85 percent supports conservation and environmental mitigation projects in Southern Nevada. This legislation has provided billions to Clark County and will continue to benefit generations of Southern Nevadans. Sen. Cortez Masto’s lands bill builds upon the act’s success.
So here’s the good news: All of the money generated from land made available for sale under Sen. Cortez Masto’s bill would be sent to the special account created by the 1998 law. Rather than going to an unaccountable federal government, the proceeds would continue to help kids in Vegas get a better education, bolster outdoor recreation and modernize Southern Nevada’s infrastructure.
I know how important it is that money generated from the sale of public land in Nevada stay in the hands of Nevadans, and so does the senator. That’s why she opposed a Republican effort last year to sell off 200,000 acres of land in Clark County and other areas of the country that would have sent those dollars directly to Washington.
Public land management in Nevada should benefit Nevadans. We should protect sacred cultural sites and beloved recreation spaces, responsibly transfer land for affordable housing when needed and ensure our state has the resources it needs to grow sustainably. I will continue working with Sen. Cortez Masto to advocate for legislation, such as the Clark County lands bill, that puts the needs of Nevadans first.
Paul Selberg writes from Las Vegas.
click to expand photos
Las Vegas High’s baseball team claimed a 3-2 home win over Coronado on Friday.
Las Vegas (9-13-1) next hosts Rancho at 10 a.m. Saturday. Coronado (13-14) hosts Chaparral at 3:30 p.m. Monday.
Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.
LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — Nevada’s jobless rate is holding steady, but the state is still adding jobs.
A new report from DETR shows February’s unemployment rate unchanged at 5.3 percent, with the labor force growing by nearly 3,800 people.
MORE ON FOX5: Nevada unemployment rate rises to 5.3% in January
Nevada now has about 1.6 million nonfarm jobs, up 2.2 percent over the past year and 1,500 more jobs than in January.
“This month’s report shows a strengthening labor market,” said David Schmidt, Chief Economist. ”Compared to the report for January, the pace of job gains in the past year increased from 1.9% to 2.2%, building on what was already the fastest pace of job growth in the country. While the unemployment rate remained stable, the labor force participation rate rose to 63.7%, 1.7 percentage points higher than the national level.”
In Las Vegas, employment ticked up by 1,100 jobs in February, about 0.1 percent, and is up more than 25,000 jobs compared to last year.
Reno added 1,000 jobs on the month, while Carson City shed about 200 but is still slightly above where it was a year ago.
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