Affordable housing stock declined in Southern Nevada
Michael Lyle
(Nevada Current) The inventory of affordable housing Southern Nevada fell even further in 2024, according to a recent state report.
The 2024 Annual Housing Progress Report, which was released last month by the state Housing Division and tracks affordable housing inventory across jurisdictions in Washoe and Clark counties, found overall in both counties there was a 3% increase in affordable housing units created from 2023.
Of the 1,062 affordable units the report identified as created or renovated to add to the inventory, all but 36 were located in Washoe County. The City of Reno created 1,011 units while the City of Sparks added 15 units.
Both the cities of Las Vegas and Mesquite lost existing affordable units after they reverted back to private market rates. According to the report, there were 39 units converted from affordable to market rate housing in Las Vegas and 31 in Mesquite.
The City of Mesquite was the only jurisdiction in Clark County to add to the affordable housing inventory and created 36 entirely new units in 2024, the report found, which left the city with a net increase of five units.
In an email to Nevada Current, the Nevada Housing Division wrote the lack of affordable housing added in Southern Nevada last year wasn’t entirely unexpected in the aftermath of the pandemic adding that “the supply chains, and other construction factors in the two-three year window in which new construction projects are developed.”
“It is important to note that this should be the last year of these impacts as the Division foresees the use of Clark County Community Housing funds, the Home Means Nevada Initiative funds, the Nevada Attainable Housing fund, in addition to our traditional LIHTC funding, to create and preserve over 5800 affordable units anticipated to be placed in service in the next few years in Clark County, including this year.”
Another 8,218 affordable units statewide are scheduled to be developed over the next few years, according to the report. Of the units in the pipeline, 3,351 dedicated toward very low income households, or those with incomes below 50% of the area median income.
The housing division said projects typically take two to three years but that it’s “it’s difficult to quantify a specific date for occupancy.”
The Ogden Pines complex in Las Vegas was demolished, which led to the city losing 39 units, but a new affordable housing project built in its place will have 51 units, said Jace Radke, a spokesman for the City of Las Vegas.
“While those units were ‘lost,’ it is temporary between demolition in 2024” and when the new complex is completed in either 2026 or 2027 and will have 12 more units than the old complex, Radke said.
Nevada, like the nation, is contending with a shortage of affordable and available housing.
The state’s yearly report compiles information provided by jurisdictions in Clark and Washoe in order to “analyze trends to the degree possible and highlights notable efforts to establish and maintain affordable housing.”
Housing inventory included in the report consists of units funded with federal, state, or local subsidies that restrict how much rent can be charged to tenants to ensure they aren’t paying more than 30% of their income.
“To be included within the inventory, properties must either have project-based rental assistance, or agreements restricting the income levels of occupants or their rent levels,” the report reads.
There are approximately 32,944 total units that met that definition as of last year. The previous year had 31,952 the year before.
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 allocated billions of dollars of federal relief to Nevada. The state allocated roughly $500 million in funding to go toward developing and preserving affordable housing.
The report notes that while Southern Nevada jurisdictions “reported a year-over year decrease due to lost units and little or no” additional properties, the nearly 33,000 affordable units developed statewide in 2024 was “an all-time high.”
A 3.1% increase in total units between 2023 and 2024 outpaced the 2.0% increase from 2022 to 2023, the report notes. The previous year’s housing analysis found that the state created 690 new affordable units in 2023, during which Clark County was responsible for 470 units.
In addition to dearth of new developments, Southern Nevada’s loss in affordable housing stock in 2024 was due to the 71 units in Las Vegas and Mesquite converting to market rate. That includes the 39 units that were in the old Ogden Pines complex.
Nonprofit contractors and privately owned developers can secure tax credits in exchange for allocating a portion of their units at affordable rates, but those units are typically only locked into those rates for 15 or 30 years.
Fair market rent in Nevada is roughly $1,400 a month, meaning a minimum wage employee earning $12 an hour would have to work 91 hours to afford the rent that doesn’t exceed more than 30% of their income, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition.
Nevada state lawmakers in 2021 passed legislation to provide localities and tenants a 12-month notification before units are no longer deemed affordable in an attempt to preserve existing stock of affordable housing units. The intent was to give municipalities a chance to work with developers to keep properties from transitioning to market rate or, if need be, relocate low-income tenants.
“Losing the existing inventory is weighing us down,” former state Sen. Julia Ratti said at the time. “We can build all the new units in the world, but if we can’t keep the ones we’ve already got we’re not making any progress.”
In an email, the city of Mesquite said that the 31 single-family units “were originally built for the low-income population.”
“The homes are currently owned by individuals, who purchased at affordable rates, and they are currently no longer subject to affordability restrictions,” according to the city.