Local Realtors fly to France for global conference

Leading Realtors from throughout Nevada will be showing off real estate and investment opportunities in the Silver State by attending MIPIM, the world’s leading global real estate market, business conference and networking event, to be held March 13-16 in Cannes, France.

Nine Nevada real estate leaders are attending the event, representing the statewide Nevada Realtors, the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors, the Reno-Sparks Association of Realtors and the Commercial Alliance Las Vegas.

They include Nevada Realtors CEO Teresa McKee; GLVAR CEO Wendy DiVecchio; 2017 Nevada Realtors President Greg Martin; 2017 GLVAR President David J. Tina; 2017 CALV President Jennifer Ott, CCIM; 2018 RSAR President Doug McIntyre; Diane Brown, a Northern Nevada Realtor, who has chaired the state association’s Global Committee; Rena Levy, a Las Vegas Realtor, representing the state association’s Global Committee; and Tamara Larisa Tyrbouslu, a Las Vegas Realtor, representing GLVAR’s Global Committee.

These Nevadans will be part of a growing USA pavilion, hosted by the National Association of Realtors, the nation’s largest real estate trade organization. NAR will be among 3,100 exhibitors at this year’s event.

This will be the third year local Realtors have attended MIPIM, said Heidi Kasama, 2018 president of the Nevada Realtors. This year, she said Nevada’s representatives will bring more information about the most significant real estate and development projects being built or planned in the state. She said examples range from Tesla’s gigafactory being built near Reno to the $1.9-billion stadium being built near the south end of the Las Vegas Strip, to billions of dollars in other, less well-known but still significant developments.

About 24,000 leading real estate executives from 100 countries, including thousands of investors, are expected to attend the annual gathering of the global real estate industry. The event brings together investors, developers, occupiers, architects, hotel groups, public authorities, city mayors and property associations from around the world.

“The U.S. remains the top-ranked market for real estate investors,” said 2018 NAR President Elizabeth Mendenhall. “Despite potential risks associated with emerging technologies, e-commerce, the ‘sharing economy’ and geopolitical events, foreign investors in a recent survey named the U.S. the most stable market for real estate investment and the best opportunity for capital appreciation.

“Overall, the market is healthy, with commercial property prices rising 90 percent in the last seven years. Multiple years of steady job growth and the strengthening U.S. economy — albeit at a modest pace — make commercial property a good bet for foreign investors looking to diversify their portfolios and generate returns outside their country of origin.”

GLVAR President Chris Bishop added that prices for Class A properties in many large U.S. markets have surpassed pre-recession levels, while “smaller markets like Las Vegas still have room for prices to appreciate. This could attract increased interest from foreign investors.”

In addition to Nevada, markets featured in the USA pavilion include the states of Arizona, Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Virginia and Washington and the metro areas of Beverly Hills/Greater Los Angeles, Coastal Carolina/Myrtle Beach, Northern Virginia and San Antonio. Markets participating in the USA “zone” adjacent to the USA Pavilion are Florida State, Miami and San Diego, along with the CCIM Institute and the Society of Office and Industrial Realtors.

GLVAR was founded in 1947 and provides its more than 14,000 local members with education, training and political representation. The local representative of the National Association of Realtors, GLVAR is the largest professional organization in Southern Nevada. Each GLVAR member receives the highest level of professional training and must abide by a strict code of ethics. For more information, visit www.LasVegasRealtor.com. E-mail your real estate questions to ask@glvar.org.