Las Vegas Apartment Sector Counting on PUA

Las Vegas—a market driven by entertainment, hospitality and retail—has relied on the pandemic unemployment assistance, an additional $600 weekly unemployment benefit. The additional benefit expired at the end of July, and many residents and apartment owners in Las Vegas are waiting for a permanent replacement solution. Without it, there could be decreased occupancy and increased broken lease agreements, especially for the lower end of the apartment market.

“The impact has been mixed. Interestingly, in the midrange $1200-plus per month to high-end luxury $2000-plus per month apartment units, there hasn’t been much impact so far, as most of those tenants have been employed through the pandemic and now work from home,” Lisa Song Sutton, a Las Vegas-based real estate investor and broker, tells GlobeSt.com. “Unfortunately, the greatest impact has been in the lower range apartments that cost $900 per month or less.”