Las Vegas homebuilder sees ‘material slowdown’ in sales

A national homebuilder with operations in Southern Nevada said Thursday it saw a “material slowdown” in sales activity as the coronavirus pandemic started shutting down the economy.

Atlanta-based PulteGroup, whose developer brands include Pulte Homes, Del Webb and American West, reported $203.7 million in profit for the three months ended March 31, up 22.2 percent from the same period last year.

It closed 5,373 home sales nationally during the first quarter, up 16 percent from a year earlier.

PulteGroup President and CEO Ryan Marshall said in the earnings release that the U.S. housing market “carried tremendous momentum into 2020” until the coronavirus hit.

As the virus spread and governments issued stay-at-home orders and other restrictions, Marshall said, “we experienced a material slowdown in consumer traffic and sales activity beginning in mid-March.”

PulteGroup operates in more than 40 U.S. markets. Locally, its projects include newly launched 55-and-over Del Webb communities in Henderson and North Las Vegas, and the 300-acre Reverence community in Summerlin.

It also acquired American West’s homebuilding operations last year from founder and longtime Las Vegas developer Larry Canarelli.

Gov. Steve Sisolak last month ordered casinos and other Nevada businesses closed to help contain the spread of the new coronavirus, while allowing construction, hospitals, grocery stores and other “essential” lines of work to stay open during the public health crisis.

People are still buying homes in the Las Vegas Valley, but the pipeline of sales has shrunk fast amid record job losses in Nevada.

Builders signed 197 sales contracts in Southern Nevada during the first two weeks of April, down 60 percent from the same period last year, Las Vegas-based Home Builders Research has reported.

Contact Eli Segall at esegall@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0342. Follow @eli_segall on Twitter.