LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Thousands of people have been displaced by Los Angeles area fires and UNLV economist Nicholas Irwin said it’s likely for people to seek refuge here in the Las Vegas valley.
“We may see some people relocating here temporarily, while they wait out the damage,” Irwin said.
Once it’s time to rebuild the damage, the housing market could see a squeeze. Irwin said that the long rebuilding process could lead to some pressure on the rental market for large apartments or houses while families recover.
“It’s going to be a long process to rebuild all those houses just waiting for insurance payouts and limited amount of construction workforce to rebuild,” Irwin said. “It could take a couple of years so we could see some people may be moving here in that that period and enrolling kids in school. So there could be some pressure, upward pressure on those rental prices.”
Irwin also saying the valley’s lack of wildfire risk may be appealing for long term movers.
“It is a more, a much safer place, in terms of if you’re worried about wildfire risk, or flooding risk in Las Vegas. You know, we have our water issues to worry about, but we’ve got those things pretty well sorted,” Irwin said. “Any given year, we have a lot of folks moving in from Southern California. But this could be, you know, an additional or something that attracts people to move here”
