Lennar closes 2023 as No. 1 homebuilder

Lennar maintained its top position of the annual builder rankings for 2023 as the Las Vegas market recorded a 22.5 percent increase in net sales year-over-year.

■ Lennar’s 1,804 net sales were 8.1 percent higher than the 1,669 in 2022, according to Las Vegas-based Home Builders Research. Net sales are sales minus cancellations. Lennar’s leading community was Highline with 143 sales, the fourth-highest total in the region. No. 7 Centennial Heights had 129 sales followed by No. 8 Roxbury with 123. Copper Ranch was No. 10 with 112 sales.

■ D.R. Horton came in a close second with 1,751 sales, a 39.4 percent increase over the 1,258 a year ago when it was ranked No. 2 behind Lennar. D.R. Horton was December’s top-selling builder with 147 net sales.

■ The Pulte Group jumped up from fourth to third in 2023 with 1,565 sales, a 52.2 percent increase over 1,028 in 2022. It was led by Sun City Mesquite with 159 sales, the second-highest selling community in Southern Nevada. Pulte Del Webb was No. 3 in the region’s sales with 148. Its Aldervista was fifth with 134 sales while Jones Crossing was sixth with 130.

■ KB Home dropped one spot to fourth with 1,547 sales, a 29.4 percent increase over the 1,196 in 2022. It was No. 1 in 2021 ahead of Lennar.

■ Richmond American was No. 5 with 720 sales, a 36.6 percent increase over the 527 sales in 2022.

■ Beazer was sixth with 466 sales, a 34.7 percent increase over the 346 sales in 2022.

■ Century Communities was seventh with 421 sales, one less than the 422 sales in 2022.

■ Tri Pointe Homes was eighth with 401 sales, a 26.9 percent increase over the 316 sales in 2022.

■ Toll Brothers was ninth with 389 sales, 14.8 percent higher than the 339 in 2022.

■ Touchstone Living rounded out the top 10 with 384 sales, a 20.8 percent decline from 485 in 2022, but its sales are expected to rebound in 2024 with its recent opening of its newest community, Independence in the east valley. It was No. 6 a year ago. Touchstone had the top-selling community of the year with Watercolor with 182 sales. Its Mosaic was No. 8 with 113 sales.

■ Taylor Morrison, which was ninth a year ago, fell just out of the top 10.

Home Builders Research’s final year-end numbers showed there were 10,529 net sales in Southern Nevada in 2023, a 22.5 percent increase over the 8,590 in 2022.

Sales rebounded as buyers settled into higher interest rates with builders offering incentives after the shock during the second half of 2022, when rising rates dramatically slowed the marketplace.

Builders will have some catching up to do to reach the 2021 levels coming when there were 12,902 net sales. That would require another 22.5 percent increase in 2024.

Home Builders Research President Andrew Smith said the 776 new home net sales in December helped builders close the year on a strong note.

“Discounting the surge in sales in 2020 and 2021, this was the highest December total since 2007 (723),” Smith said. “Overall, 2023 should be looked at very positively in terms of the new-home market, especially considering the mortgage rate situation that presented itself in 2022.”

Sales recovered during the spring selling season and cancellation rates returned to more normal levels in the mid-teens (14 percent overall for the year) after reaching as high as 40 percent in November 2022, Smith said.

The northwest valley led the way with 29 percent of the sales, up from 27 percent a year ago. Henderson had 26 percent, up from 22 percent a year ago. The southwest valley had 25 percent up from 22 percent a year ago. Those gains came at the expense of North Las Vegas, which has seen lower inventory of new homes for buyers. The former market leader had 12 percent market share, down from 16 percent a year ago, according to Home Builders Research.

Closings, which are a lagging indicator of net sales, ended the year at 11,140, a 714, or 6 percent, decline from 2022. Single-family home closings fell 12 percent while attached home closings rose 18 percent. For 2023, attached products accounted for 25 percent of new-home closings, up from 20 percent in 2022, Smith said. Homeowners have been reluctant to put their existing homes on the market because of elevated interest rates.

New homes earned a 27 percent market share of all homes closed in 2023, up from 23 percent in 2022, Smith said.

The median price of all home closings in December was $475,597, a 4.5 percent decrease over December 2022. The median price of single-family closings in December was $507,879, a 3.3 percent decrease. The median price of attached homes was $373,990, a 4.2 percent decrease.

■ Toll Brothers had the highest median price in 2023 among top 10 builders at $745,715, a 7.7 percent decline from 2022.

■ Touchstone Living had the lowest median price at $369,490, a 6.8 percent increase over 2022.

■ Other median prices show Lennar at $455,000, a 2.3 percent decline.

■ D.R. Horton was $427,990, a 6.6 percent decline.

■ KB Home was $462,682, a 0.5 percent increase.

■ Pulte was $545,000, a 2.6 percent decline.

■ Richmond American was $473,000, a 0.9 percent decline.

■ Century Communities was $485,414, a 0.2 percent decline.

■ Beazer was $405,000, a 13.1 percent decline.

■ Tri Pointe was $633,111, a 2.25 percent increase.

Five new product lines opened for sale in December, bringing 695 lots onto the market.

Axel by Lennar in the Sunstone master-planned community was the only project with attached product types in the group. For 2023, Smith reported 94 new-home communities coming to market.