Welcome back (I was out due to some health issues) to the monthly update of the ArrowCreek Community property values for our High Desert, Semi-Rural Village within Washoe County, Nevada. Our ‘village’ was designed over 3,172 acres to have 1,083 residences, with a small residents’ center to include a 7/11 type store, real estate office, equestrian center and an independent, PRIVATE Golf Course as commercial businesses (A.K.A. the Non-Residential Area as documented in the Articles of Incorporation, the Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions (CC&Rs) and By-Laws). The 7/11 type store, real estate office and equestrian center were dropped from plans many, many years ago, along with proposals for alternative entry and exit points. Participation in the private club (i.e., Residents/Owners of our community do not have a financial interest nor obligation to ‘The Club,’ which is not true for all Associations) is purely optional for interested and “approved” parties. Sociologically, ‘The Club’ forms its own community focal point within our broader HOA community.

The origins of this report were based on a heated discussion of the value of homes on a golf course versus those not on the golf course, which is likely different for other communities, and, as you’ll observe, the belief  and, in this month’s edition, reality, that homes on a golf course are worth more is a ‘belief’ likely based upon very long-term marketing from the Golfing Industry. In point of ‘fact,’ homes adjacent to the golf course are currently showing a 14.5% advantage to those not adjacent to the course. This ‘advantage’ should be taken with a grain of salt as only nine (9) homes in this category have been sold in the past 12 months and the details of this ‘difference’ are presented in the following paragraphs and data. It is worth noting that the low sales rate of golf course related homes causes an inordinate perception of the net worth.

The ArrowCreek community, like so many small communities in Nevada, is financially diverse having been created that way by the designer of the community and Washoe County planners in 1997. It consists of 506 Semi-Custom homes, typically for middle and upper middle-income individuals, and 577 Custom home sites (all started out as vacant lots and currently, due to some consolidations, has shrunk to 573), typically for upper middle and high net worth individuals, of which 515 custom homes have been or are being built. Approximately one third of all the lots, both custom and semi-custom, are directly adjacent to the golf course (~361). This report contains the data that was available on June 28, 2025, from the Washoe County Assessor’s Records. These records appear to be a few weeks late, perhaps due to lack of sales or awaiting bulk data uploads.

The calendar has definitely changed to summer. With interest rates holding steady and inflation increasing, we should expect home sales to slow – but they haven’t. Unfortunately, we are still absorbing the last five years of stimulus spending and now tariffs. Our data appears to be in agreement with national publications and local real estate and banking professionals. For the first time in two years, sales have increased, albeit barely, for seven consecutive months. Homes that sold for more than $1 million shot up 37% compared with the same months a year ago. However, home price growth has also slowed and in fact, as you may have read elsewhere, declined over the past four to eight months. Our ArrowCreek year-over-year price change is an astounding 11.6%. An article from Kiplinger has forecast single family homes will increase only 4% during 2025. We will see. ‘Raw’ property in our ArrowCreek community continues to run in the range of $417,000 to $445,000 per acre.

Since July of 2024 and over the past twelve (12) months:

1. Custom ArrowCreek homes appear to have established a ‘selling floor’ of $510 per square-foot and Semi-Custom homes a similar ‘selling floor’ of $460 per square-foot to grow from. With seven fully financed properties changing hands these past two months, Painted Vista and Bella Terra were the most active neighborhoods.

On with THE FACTS:

a.) Seven (7) properties were recorded sold in ArrowCreek between 6 May and 20 June 2025 (per the Washoe County Assessor). This brings the total number of properties transferred over the past rolling year to 60 or 5.5% turnover rate for our community. From a National Publication (TheHill.com), this compares to the fact that only 8.4% of Americans live in a different home than they did a year ago and in Washoe County the number is 18.4% based upon the most recent census data. The aging of the U.S. population, a lack of new housing, and increased caution have produced the lowest rate of mobility recorded at any time since 1948. ArrowCreek continues to have a very low turnover rate which may be attributed to a general satisfaction with living in our gated community. In fact, 178 (16.4%) of us have lived or owned property in ArrowCreek for more than 16 years.

b.) Two (2) homes and no vacant property were recorded sold on the golf course (where the property boundaries actually touch the golf course property, not just have a ‘view’ of it) during this reporting period. We use a 12-month rolling average to normalize home and land prices. The number of homes sold, in the ‘golf course’ category, does not meet the criteria for statistical analysis (9). The rolling average selling price for homes on the golf course, a suspicious number, increased to $569.84 per square foot. The 12-month rolling average sales price increased to $2,418,441.56. No additional parcels were sold bordering the golf course. Currently, vacant parcels are valued at $413,198.96 per acre.

c.) Five (5) homes and no additional lots were recorded sold that are not connected to the golf course. The rolling average selling price for off-course homes increased to $495.59 per square foot, which is up by $3.62 per square foot, based on a sample size of 41 homes. The twelve-month rolling average sales price for non-golf course homes increased to $1,992,384.39 from the two months ago value of 1,864,869.000. No vacant lots were sold these past two months, making the rolling 12-month average selling price for vacant land, not on the golf course, $417,280.58 per acre. This value is based upon 8 properties sold over the past year.

d.) The figure below shows the ArrowCreek value trends over the past twelve months with the vertical scale being the cost per square foot. Although only a small number (4) have been sold at $569.84 per square foot, it clearly distorts the picture. Additionally, it was noted that five years ago the nominal price per square foot was on the order of $200 as opposed to where they are today. With the minimal sales on the golf course properties, a couple of thoughts come to mind. First, people are extremely happy here and don’t need or want to move on. Second, they may have had a dream of ‘making it,’ and a symbol of ‘arriving’ is the nice home on a golf course. In any case, homes are still being sold, just in much smaller volumes.

Another interesting observation was provided recently that may account for some or most of this difference. The observation was from a Damonte Ranch resident who belongs to ‘The Club.’ “I get all the ‘amenities’ of ArrowCreek with my golf membership without the ‘high cost’ of owning a home there.” Something to ponder, as this ‘attitude’ may cause our prices to go lower to match those ‘down in the valley’ and, in fact, there is some evidence that that phenomenon is happening. Certainly, the lack of home sales adjoining the golf course may be one such indicator.

2. With the arrival of summer and inflation increasing, our housing market should continue to be alive. For those desiring a secure, safe environment with majestic views to raise a family, with abundant recreational opportunities, excellent schools, shopping, medical services and peace of mind, ArrowCreek should not be overlooked. Yes, we are higher priced, but we are worth it!

Do keep in mind that everyone’s selling price is based upon his or her own set of circumstances and the above picture/figure is hindsight, not necessarily foresight. In point of fact, it is distorted due to the lack of sales of golf course homes. A balanced marketing approach, for our community, focused on our amenities and relatively low governmental fees (ACHOA dues) should go a long way toward creating a better environment for all homeowners and buyers.

Continuing with the commentary from previous months: the author received queries about Semi-Custom and Custom homes both on and off the golf course and their relative selling prices with respect to those found in Reno and Sparks. The following chart portrays the trend lines for Custom and Semi-Custom homes within this broader community. From the chart below it is pretty clear that home values across the Truckee Meadows have been rising over the past twelve months. It is also apparent that Custom homes in the broader Reno Custom Home market are now ’on-par’ ArrowCreek Custom homes on the golf course. Custom homes not on the golf course appear to be a better value. Also, ArrowCreek Semi-Custom homes are exhibiting about a 12% difference between those on the golf course and those not on the course. All of our values are absolutely competitive with the rest of Washoe Valley.

ArrowCreek homes have no real comparison to values in the Sparks market, this includes the  D’Andrea community.

For the past month the ArrowCreek rolling averages are:

• Semi-Custom On-Course: $517.72 per Square Foot (**only 5 properties)
• Semi-Custom Off-Course: $454.95 per Square Foot (21 properties)
• Custom On-Course: $635.00 per Square Foot (**only 4 properties)
• Custom Off-Course: $538.26 per Square Foot (20 properties)

• • We also received a request from one of our readers for a comparison of the ArrowCreek values with those in D’Andrea (Sparks market), Somersett (Reno market) and Saddlehorn. Having obtained the appropriate reports from the real estate community, here is what was learned. (Data extracted from altosresearch.com Chase International)

• • • Reno market ‘in general’ – Custom homes in Reno are selling, on average, for $565.57 per square foot (Median price $2,185,000). The average days on the market was 56 days. Reno homes comparable to ArrowCreek Semi-Custom homes are selling, on average, for $389.89 per square foot (Median price $990,000) with a time-on-market of 35 days. ArrowCreek Semi-Custom homes exhibited a time on market of 148 days. Median prices rose across the Reno market by 4.4% during the comparable past year, as you can see from the chart, while ArrowCreek combined average, validated prices for all home types increased by about 12.6%.

• • • Sparks market ‘in general’ – This market remains non-comparable to ArrowCreek but it is shown in the chart for completeness.

Commentary: ArrowCreek Custom homes continue to be in the top two quartiles of the Washoe Valley real estate market but not market leaders. Semi-Custom homes continue to be in the top quartile of the same market.

Some owners of ArrowCreek believe they reside in a ‘golf community’ and that’s fine. In fact, they reside in a small ‘village/HOA’ with governmental-like services. So the words of being a golf community appear to emanate from those who have chosen to belong to the ‘private’ golf club and that’s fine, too. In their minds, it may be true; however, in fact, the truth is that only a third of the homes and lots are on the golf course and approximately 39% of all owners are actually members of ‘The Club.’ Yes, we have a private golf club within our gated community that is not an HOA amenity, but we also enjoy the freedom to belong or not.

The ‘value proposition’ for our unique community should continue to focus on attracting professionals who value security, views, recreational opportunities, good schools, near-by shopping/entertainment, excellent medical services, and the quietude of the High Desert. Realtors will continue to show prospective new Nevadans lower priced housing options but in the end people who value our advantages will settle in ArrowCreek. People will come to ownership in ArrowCreek as Nevada businesses gather top talent with competitive salaries.

Please consider contributing your knowledge and energy to make our HOA better for all owners and residents by participating in a committee.

By Ron Duncan

June 30, 2025

For previous postings of the ArrowCreek property value updates: click here.