The City of Reno is seeing economic growth all around town and now the housing market is expanding. Hundreds of new homes are under construction right now and there are already plans in place to build even more. Last July the City of Reno approved 1,000 homes to be built over the next 18 months. We took a look at some of the busy sites today to see where the new homes will go.
Construction crews are off to a busy start in the Damonte Ranch neighborhood. With 1,000 new homes to be built over 400 acres in the next year and a half, homes are going up quick to fit in with the completed neighborhoods across the street. 90% of the homes built will be single-family houses and the rest will be apartments or town homes. "We're seeing it basically spread throughout the city but primarily right now it's done in the South Meadows area in the Bella Vista Ranch area,” Reno Community Development Director Fred Turnier.
The City of Reno says since the recession new development was slow, but now, it's picked up. "I would say in the past nine months we've seen a significant uptick in residential permits being pulled and also new subdivisions being applied for,” said Turnier.
We're told the growing demand for housing comes from an increase in new businesses and to accommodate the growing work force.
Last year nearly 6,000 homes were sold in the Reno and Sparks area. More sales are expected this year. President of the Reno-Sparks Realtors Association, Dave Hansen says most of the growth is happening on the edges of the city. "We're going in three different directions all at once,” said Hansen. "There's new developments going on as you go further east in the Sparks area toward Spanish Springs."
The Reno-Sparks Association of Realtors says some of the more popular neighborhoods for home sales are in the South Meadows, Spanish Springs and Cold Springs area. "One of the biggest problems we have right now is the inventory. There's not enough houses for the buyers that are looking for houses,” said Hansen. "There's new developments going on as you go further east in the Sparks area toward Spanish Springs."
And it's not going to stop there. Community developers say plans are also in place to expand housing development north of Reno. "We see people looking at areas such as the Cold Springs area," said Turnier.
Expansion is also being considered in the North Valleys and Lemmon Valley area with the development of Amazon and other businesses. Those housing projects are still in the planning phase.
"So with the employment in the North Valleys, typically after you have the employment, you have the rooftops that follow,” said Turnier.
It's a public process to approve construction for more homes. The City of Reno needs to hold a public meeting with the planning commission and with the city council before more homes can be built. The number of new homes for the North Valleys area has not been decided yet.
