Las Vegas now has more renters than homeowners, despite the fact that it’s much cheaper to own a home than to rent one. Homeownership in Las Vegas has decreased to less than half of all individuals residing there; the number was highest back in 2000 when 64% of all people in Las Vegas were homeowners. This number is expected to keep falling due to the number of foreclosures and short sales that continue to be on the market.
Some people are concerned that the increase in rental properties will hurt the community due to the fact that most renters don’t usually care for their properties as well as homeowners do. They also tend to care less about neighborhood preservation because they have nothing invested in their home.
Of the 800,000 plus homes in the Las Vegas area, a little less than half of them, about 394,000, are occupied by their owners; the other 406,000 are investment properties. An analyst from the Las Vegas area says that the housing market turned into a renters market because home prices in the area are fairly high when compared to average incomes. The increase in rental properties can also be attributed to credit troubles that many individuals are facing.
Currently for single-family properties, the number of owner-occupied homes still outweighs the number of renter-occupied homes; there are almost 100,000 more owner-occupied single family homes in the Las Vegas area than there are renter-occupied homes. The number of renters across the area has increased, however, because of the number of people that are losing their homes to foreclosure or choosing to short sell; this keeps them from being able to purchase a home again for the new few years.
It’s discouraging to see this trend because buying a home in Las Vegas is still cheaper than renting; many times mortgages are less than half of what people are paying in rent. Some renters, however, say they aren’t comfortable purchasing a home now due to the still tumultuous economy and volatile employment situations. While the decline in home ownership can be expected to continue on into the foreseeable future, there could possibly be a slowing of this due to banks willing to lend more money to borrowers.
