Builders, Realtors and apartment groups form the Southern Nevada Development Coalition to push for housing solutions

What happened

Organizations from across the housing and development industry in Southern Nevada have formed a new alliance called the Southern Nevada Development Coalition, or SNDC, the Las Vegas Sun reported. The group launched in August and brings together groups representing construction, housing, real estate and related industries.

Coalition members told the Sun they want to identify shared problems and bring proposed solutions to policymakers. The effort covers a range of issues that affect local real estate and the cost of new homes and apartments.

Who is behind the coalition

Home builders

Tina Frias, CEO of the Southern Nevada Home Builders Association, described the SNDC as a collaborative alliance. She told the Sun the goal is "unifying our message and our voice where that makes sense," along with pooling resources and contacts to have more impact in the community.

Realtors

Tiffany Banks, CEO of Nevada Realtors, said no single organization or industry can solve the region's challenges alone. She said Realtors often see the end of the housing process, while builders, developers and contractors each see the market from a different angle. Combining those views gives a fuller picture and makes each member a stronger advocate, she told the Sun.

Apartment owners

Robin Crawford, executive director of the Nevada State Apartment Association, said she hopes the coalition can serve as a resource for lawmakers, including city officials and county administrators. She said the focus would be on ways to increase supply and make housing more affordable.

The issues the coalition is targeting

What drives the cost of a home

Banks listed housing attainability, land availability, infrastructure, water, construction and development costs, financing, insurance and regulation as connected concerns. She called attainability the issue that ties the others together. "All of those factors eventually show up somewhere in the cost of housing," Banks told the Sun.

She said buyers sometimes assume a home's price has a single cause, but it reflects permitting, regulatory requirements, labor, materials, interest rates, insurance and more. Banks said the industry should also ask what may be making housing more expensive, sometimes unintentionally.

Federal land and supply

Crawford noted that more than 80% of Nevada's land is owned by the federal government. She said it would make sense to build housing on much of that land, but red tape makes it difficult. "If there was more supply brought to the market, that would put downward pressure on rents," she told the Sun.

How members describe the region's growth

Banks said industries that once advocated alongside each other are now working together more directly, talking earlier, sharing information and meeting with policymakers. She told the Sun the question is not whether Southern Nevada will grow but how it grows, and whether the people who make communities work can stay part of them.

Banks also pointed to Nevada's appeal for people relocating, citing its cost of living compared with other states, particularly California, and its lack of an income tax. "We still are building," she said, adding that she views measures such as rent control as band-aids that do not help the broader economy. More coverage of growth in the valley is on our development page.

What to watch next

• Whether the SNDC begins meeting with city officials and county administrators on ways to increase housing supply, as Crawford said she hopes it will.
• Whether the coalition pursues legislation, which Crawford described as a possible long-term goal for the group that she called very new.
• How the coalition approaches federal land and permitting red tape, which members cited as barriers to building more housing.