Las Vegas homebuilders set to close most sales since 2008
Las Vegas builders are on pace to sell the most homes in a decade by year’s end, but sales could soften in 2019, a new report says.
Builders closed 903 new-home sales in Southern Nevada in November, up 2.5 percent from the same month last year, Home Builders Research reported Monday.
That brought the year’s sales total to 9,671, up 15.5 percent from the same 11-month period in 2017.
The median price of last month’s closings was $380,798, up 8.2 percent year-over-year.
Despite the increased activity, sales totals remain far below their pre-recession peaks: When the valley was flooded with easy money during the housing bubble, builders closed nearly 39,000 sales in 2005 alone in Southern Nevada.
Barring some “major surprise,” builders this year will close more than 10,000 sales for the first time since 2008, Home Builders Research President Andrew Smith and founder Dennis Smith wrote in Monday’s report.
But amid affordability concerns, the heated market has shown some signs of cracks, and according to the Smiths, the tally of closings could “further soften” next year.
Builders reported fewer net sales in the third quarter compared with the same period last year in half of the valley’s top 10-selling master-planned communities, including Summerlin, Inspirada and Cadence, according to Home Builders Research, which noted that master-planned developments typically command higher prices than projects outside their boundaries.
Moreover, sales of single-family houses, which comprise the bulk of the market, dipped last month.
Southern Nevada builders closed 777 sales of single-family homes in November, down 3.5 percent from the same month last year, the Smiths reported.
Condos and townhomes, which are typically less expensive, pushed the market’s overall sales tally higher.
Builders closed 126 sales of attached homes in November, up 65.8 percent from a year earlier. This put the year’s condo and townhouse sales total at 1,240, double the same period in 2017, Home Builders Research reported.
Contact Eli Segall at esegall@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0342. Follow @eli_segall on Twitter.