Summerlin

Summerlin is by far the largest planned community in the Las Vegas Area at 22,500 acres ranging from Cheyenne Ave at the northern end to just south of Russell Rd., to the south. The west of the community borders the Red Rock Conservation District. On completion, it will include 30 separate and distinct villages with over 64,000 homes and a projected 160,000 residents. There are around 124,000 current residents.

It features parks, pools, ball fields, tennis courts, walking trails, schools, hospital, golf courses, commercial centers, shopping centers, and 22 public and private schools. There are presently 150 miles of trails and over 100 parks, 12 of which are considered major. The initial construction was to the north with later construction farther south, south of Sahara, and West of Hualapai. Future construction will mostly be north of Charlestion Blvd. and west of the I215. The elevation at Summerlin, for the presently developed and developing areas, ranges from 2,500 ft. to around 3,500 ft. above sea level. The higher elevations are west of the I215.

Personal observation and Summerlin Reviews.

Pros:

All you need to do is to drive through some of the older Summerlin villages to the north. Some of these areas date to 1989. You will see that they have aged beautifully and I will tell you that they are even more beautiful now than they were 30 years ago. The thought that was given to this master plan is amazing.   Homes, schools, parks, villages, retail and commercial, and hospital, are all part of this comprehensive master plan. Nothing else like it in the valley.

The location and elevation of the community are often overlooked. It is in the foothills, with the Spring Mountains to the west. The elevations presently run from about 2,500 ft. above sea level to around 3,550 ft. They could go a little higher with new construction. Lake Las Vegas and its associated development range from 1400 ft. to around 1,550 ft. That is a potential 2,000 differential. This is the Mojave Desert. I live at around 2,800 ft. In the summertime, I can tell the difference in temperature traveling from home to Lake Las Vegas or some of the communities on the east side of the valley. There is a smaller difference in elevation between Lake Las Vegas and Badwater Basin in Death Valley than between The Stoneridge Community in Summerlin and Lake Las Vegas. One other factor is that with the sun setting to the west, behind the Spring Mountains, Summerlin areas will fall into the shade around 1 hour earlier than areas on the east side of the valley.

Cons:

Price - At the time of this writing the median home selling price in Summerlin is $725,000. Valley wide the median price is $465,000. To be fair, the median home size in Summerlin is somewhat larger, but still, that is a big difference.

Location - This can be a negative in some situations. The I215 beltway is very helpful, but if you need to say travel from the middle of Summerlin to the middle of The Strip, you are probably looking at surface streets the whole way.

Location, location, location - The conventional wisdom in real estate is that location is everything.  I did a check of home appreciation from the first quarter of 2018 to the first quarter of 2022 for several areas. Of all the areas I checked, Summerlin came out on top, with an appreciation rate of 63%. North Las Vegas, which includes some of the oldest communities in the valley, as well as some of the newest came in at 60%. I even checked a couple of east-side manufactured home communities, where the land comes with the home, and that appreciation rate was 56%.  There is some difference here, but not a lot. My thinking is that as prices get higher, there may be more pressure on the lower prices than the higher ones.