Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Events:

Recession rebound hasn’t been the same for all races

Studies have shown that Las Vegas is among the top cities in the United States when it comes to people of different ethnicities living in the same neighborhoods.

But in examining rates of homeownership in our diverse neighborhoods, a Brookings Institution researcher discovered recently that not all ethnic groups are the same.

“One of the most concerning things I found was that the rates differ quite a lot by race and ethnicity,” said Jenny Schuetz, who specializes in housing policy, land-use regulations and related issues at Brookings. “White and Asian households saw a drop in homeownership after the Great Recession as people went through foreclosures, but they’ve basically recovered to their pre-recession levels. Black and Latino families had lower homeownership rates than whites and Asians before the crisis. Homeownership rates dropped during the Great Recession, but they’ve continued to drop afterward.”

Tonight at UNLV, Schuetz will further examine that discrepancy and discuss the potential ramifications of it.

The presentation, “Housing — Las Vegas and the Middle Class,” will focus not only on housing issues but on other factors affecting social mobility in the community.

The event is part of a major project between the Brookings Institution and the think tank’s partner institution at UNLV, Brookings Mountain West, to improve the quality of life of the middle class in Las Vegas and elevate lower-income residents into its ranks.

Schuetz will be joined by Richard Reeves of the Brookings Institution and Robert Lang of Brookings Mountain West for the 90-minute discussion.

During an interview Tuesday, Schuetz said her research indicates that Las Vegas could be trending toward becoming more of a renter community. And while there are valid reasons both to rent and to own a home, she said, there are larger implications about renting in terms of social mobility.

“The larger policy issue is that we really rely a lot on homeownership for wealth building in this country,” she said. “We anticipate that people buy a house and pay down the mortgage, which creates a nest egg they can tap into for retirement. Renters don’t automatically have that, so we want to make sure there are ways renters can be saving and building a pile of assets that don’t require being a homeowner.”

Another issue facing renters is stability, Schuetz said, due to the possibility of eviction and of landlords raising rents beyond families’ needs. But asked whether she was a proponent of rent control measures, Schuetz pulled up short.

“I would separate out tenant protections from rent control,” she said. “Rent control is a pretty heavy-handed mechanism. Tenant protection laws — saying things like if the landlord is going to raise rent more than 10%, they have to give you 30 days or 60 days advance notice — that seems like an appropriate kind of thing to do.”

Limited seating is available for the panel presentation, which begins at 6 p.m. at Greenspun Hall. You can RSVP here.