Developers give Inspirada a new launch

Local home-construction permits are slipping, and sales are sinking.

So you might wonder if it’s the best time to relaunch a master plan with more than a dozen new models.

But that’s exactly what developers of Henderson’s Inspirada did Aug. 2, when they rolled out a sales blitz featuring nine fresh communities with 16 new home designs.

The market that Inspirada rejoined is showing signs of slowing.

But observers say rather than adding to any housing-industry woes, Inspirada could be the spark that reignites local building activity.

To understand why, start with the latest housing stats.

Area home builders pulled 3,371 new-home construction permits from January to June — a drop of 13 percent, or 504 permits, compared with the first six months of 2013, according to numbers from local analysis firm Home Builders Research.

Actual closings have fared even worse: Builders sold 2,699 homes in the first half of 2014, down 34 percent, or 914 units, from the same period a year earlier.

But the revival of Inspirada, which broke ground in 2006 but faltered in the Great Recession, could be a shot in the arm to those lagging figures, industry experts said.

The community could increase permit activity in Southern Nevada by 10 percent to 20 percent in the next six to 18 months, said Dennis Smith, president and CEO of Home Builders Research.

There are early signs among three of the community’s four developers that sales could surge as well.

When Pardee Homes began building its interest list in April, executives would have been happy with 200 sign-ups, said Klif Andrews, president of Pardee’s Las Vegas division. The roster stood at 400 as of Wednesday. KB Home has several hundred people on the interest list for the 220 or so homes in its current phase. And when Toll Bros. opened a new subdivision at Inspirada in January, executives would have been happy with roughly six sales a month, or about 40 sales through July, division President David Straub said. Instead, 76 units had been sold through Wednesday.

The fourth developer, Beazer Homes, won’t have models ready until 2015.

“There’s all this pent-up demand for new building,” Smith said. “There’s been so much inactivity, with a lack of confidence in the economy and so many people trapped in their houses with negative equity. Things are getting better, and people are thinking, ‘Maybe it’s time to look at something new. We can make our move and interest rates are going up.’ ”

There also may be more people able to buy. Boomerang buyers — homeowners who went through short sale or foreclosure four or five years ago — are at last able to purchase again with programs that give breaks to consumers with little credit trouble beyond a home default.

Smith estimates half of buyers at Inspirada and other new developments may be boomerang buyers.

It also helps that there’s positive job growth, which means more people have income to buy.

“We’re definitely on the mend. The builders see that fact and are moving forward with Inspirada,” said John Restrepo, a principal with Las Vegas analysis firm RCG Economics.

Consumers returning to the market after a spell will see definite differences at Inspirada.

First, the master plan has switched gears on its initial New Urbanism design, which focused on smaller, attached homes with garages that opened onto rear alleys rather than street-front driveways. About 90 percent of Inspirada’s original design included alley-loaded homes; that will drop to 30 percent in the new iteration, a better reflection of the demand for that type of product, said Rob McGibney, president of KB Home Las Vegas.

Consumers will see the revival of single-story homes, a product that went largely dormant marketwide in the boom as land prices soared and homes grew as tall as three stories to help hold down land costs.

Toll Bros.’ Bellante community will be entirely single-story. Also, KB Home, which is entitled to build up to 4,000 of Inspirada’s 8,500 permitted units, is rolling out three single-story plans Saturday, including a 3,000-square-foot sprawler.

“The demand for larger, single-story homes has always been there,” McGibney said. “It’s just that now, with homes being more affordable, and with the energy-efficiency savings we offer, people can actually get into these homes at affordable prices.”

KB’s homes are larger in general at Inspirada, with plans of up to 4,343 square feet — a size KB hasn’t built locally since 2009, McGibney said.

“People want more space now. They feel more confident about larger purchases,” he said.

Builders are also unveiling new-to-market features at Inspirada.

All three builders are including standard, 12- to 15-foot sliding-glass doors onto backyard patios — a reflection of consumer surveys showing demand for open flow between indoor and outdoor spaces.

There are also nods to today’s multigenerational household. Most of KB’s floor plans have a bedroom and den on the first floor, for parents, in-laws or grown kids who still live at home.

Pardee is also offering optional, first-floor master suites while replacing formal living rooms with game rooms and bonus rooms as part of a “focus on casual living,” Andrews said.

Likewise, KB’s plans dispense with separate, formal dining rooms and living rooms in lieu of more open spaces.

There is even a free Inspirada app, which buyers can download at the community’s information center. Users can stand on an overlook, aim their smartphone on a corner of the community and see panoramic views of what will be built there.

But one thing from Inspirada’s original plan hasn’t changed, Straub said.

“We’re still going to offer a New Urban, pedestrian-friendly development, with walkability throughout the community, and probably one of the most heavily parked developments in the valley,” he said. “We’ve worked closely with the city of Henderson to design parks that will be a destination for people from all over the valley.”

Inspirada is the first in a series of coming tests for the local new-home market, which saw sales stumble 34 percent year over year in the first half of 2014 as inventory ran out, Smith said. The Cadence master plan in southeast Henderson is now selling land to builders, and Skye Canyon in the northwest held its groundbreaking in June, with models scheduled to open in 2015.

“Homebuilders are sitting on the edge of their seats to see if this (Inspirada) really happens,” Smith said. “If it does, they’ll have to buy, buy, buy land for new construction.”

Restrepo said he doesn’t foresee a glut of new homes on the local market.

“In the last year or so, we’ve had a lack of product, rather than excess product,” he said. “We don’t have the supply overhang at this point to cannibalize other parts of the market.”

Contact reporter Jennifer Robison at jrobison@reviewjournal.com.