Las Vegas Could Be Sure Bet for Savvy Players

LAS VEGAS-Could the apartment market in Sin City, one of the biggest epicenters of the housing boom and subsequent decline, be on its way to recovery? According to a report being unveiled this week by the Bentley Group, data for the third quarter 2008 shows an improvement over the performance of prior quarters.

For one, the performance index–which analyzes rents in relation to occupancy–for apartment properties in the market has risen from $826 in Q2 to $834, which is the greatest improvement it’s seen since mid-2006, when the shadow market started to make its presence felt. Meanwhile, average rents alone–which has been hovering in the $888 to the $889 range in the past year–bumped up to $890. Although that uptick is slight, it’s a telling sign that the market is on its way to recovery at a time when most others are seeing their rents decline, according to Christopher D. Bentley, president and broker of record for the firm’s multifamily and hospitality division.

Concurrently, occupancy across the Valley for the three-month period between July and September rose for the third consecutive quarter to 93.7%, up 80 basis points from June and 20 from the same period last year. The multifamily sector is beginning to pull tenants away from the shadow market, where rents are averaging about $200 more per month than traditional apartments. There’s also the risk of having to move out of shadow residences in the event of a foreclosure.