Henderson leads in new home sales so far this year

In a recent report from Las Vegas-based Home Builders Research, Henderson led the way this year with 28 percent of the home sales. That was followed by 25 percent in the southwest valley. It was 24 percent in the northwest and 14 percent in North Las Vegas.

The growth over the past decade has been fueled in part by master plans of Cadence in east Henderson and Inspirada in west Henderson. Sustaining that growth is getting tougher with Inspirada winding down in 2026 and Cadence having two to three years left to build out.

Cheryl Gowan, vice president of marketing with the Landwell Co., the developer of Cadence, said they’ve recorded 807 sales for the year through July 27.

Cadence has sold 7,070 homes with about 2,500 homes left to sell in the master plan, Gowan said. It started selling in December 2014.

“We’re estimating that maybe we will reach that in the next two to three years, depending on how the market goes,” Gowan said. “It’s gone quicker than we imagined. We have great value for the homes, and we have a variety of home types — single-family detached, smaller homes for first-time homebuyers, move-up homes and those looking to downsize. We have townhomes and duplexes. Prices start at the mid-$300,000s and go up to almost $800,000.”

Gowan said that they’re happy to be in Henderson and the city has been a great partner. Redevelopment in that portion of the city from downtown on Water Street to Boulder Highway makes it attractive, she said.

Jim McDade, the president of the Las Vegas division for KB Home, which is the master developer of Inspirada, said they’re wrapping up their last big common area park with pools, playgrounds and walk areas.

“We’re closing out about 400 homes this year in Inspirada,” McDade said. “We only have about 75 left next that we sell this year and deliver next year. In 2026, we’re done after 20 years.”

The build-out will be about 8,000. Tri Pointe Homes and Toll Brothers have completed their parcels.

“It’s very sad to be winding down Inspirada,” McDade said. “Inspirada has been around long enough that it’s lived all the life cycles that we can have in real estate. It went through the downturn, but it does show at the end of the day if you have a good quality location and you build a good product and take care of your customers that you can come through on the other side. Inspirada is a good example of that. I wish we had another one.”

In 2024, Cadence achieved its highest national ranking ever by placing No. 3 in the U.S. in master plan sales with 1,386, some 44 percent higher than the 964 in 2023 when it ranked sixth.

A previous national top 10 master plan over the years, Inspirada ranked No. 26 in 2024 with 543 sales, a decline of 6 percent from 575 in 2023, when it was ranked 28th.Inspirada had 207 sales through the end of June, according to RCLCO, a consulting firm based out of Florida.

The reason for the decline is Inspirada is winding down its development in 2026 after its lengthy run. Meanwhile, Cadence is expected to continue its strength for the next couple of years before that master plan winds down its development cycle.

Henderson is a city whose growth was fueled by master plans dating to Green Valley, which opened in 1978, to Anthem, which spurred further growth when it opened in 1998. Inspirada took over the mantle after the Great Recession, when housing ramped back up, followed on the heels by Cadence.

Karl Pischke, a principal at consulting firm RCLCO, which tracks master plans around the country, said Henderson has had an amazing run. The group has recorded master plan sales since 1994.

“Henderson has ranked in the top 10 at least one community over the course of many years,” Pischke said. “It’s been an impressive run. It’s been a big presence on our list.”

Since RCLCO started tracking master plans, Anthem reached the top 10 in 1999 and got into the top five in 2002. It was in the top 10 through 2005.

Green Valley made the list at the end of its run, hitting the list in 1994 — the first year of the list — with a top 10 from 1994 through 1998.

Inspirada showed up on the list in 2014 with a few hundred sales and ramped up its volume in 2016 when it reached the top 10 and kept that through 2018.

Cadence in 2019 cracked the top 10 in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2023, and 2024.

“With a couple of years here and there, we’re talking about Henderson having a spot in the top 50 master plan community list from 1994 to 2005 and 2016 to today,” Pischke said. “There are few cities that can lay claim to that. There are some like the Villages in Florida, Sarasota and Houston and big metros that have been on the list for a long time. But Henderson seems to have quite the diversity of master plans for a metro that isn’t Houston or Orlando.”

Cadence had its highest number of sales in 2024, and Inspirada had as many as 837 in 2017. Anthem peaked at 2,038 in 2003, and Green Valley peaked on RCLCO list at 1,306 in 1995.

One master plan that continues on in Henderson doesn’t crack the top 50 list. Lake Las Vegas, the resort community in east Henderson, had 357 sales in 2024, an 18.2 percent increase over 2023 and 68 percent higher than 2022.

Henderson still has some more opportunities for growth but nothing like Cadence, Inspirada and Lake Las Vegas.

Lakemoor near Lake Las Vegas was approved for 3,000 units, and development is just starting for the Pulte Group.

KB Home was recently approved for 940 residential units just north of the mall off of Galleria Drive and Stephanie Street.

The Mosaic master plan — 195 acres in west Henderson — will have a minimum of 1,040 residential units.

The good news is that KB has enjoyed a nice relationship with Henderson, and the company made a big commitment to a neighborhood named Meriden across from the Galleria mall area, McDade said.

“That’s 940 attached and detached homes on about 80 acres that’s well under development, and we will open there at the beginning of 2026,” McDade said.

Nicole Bloom, division president for Richmond American Homes Nevada, said there’s no more land left for builders to buy in Cadence, and Lake Las Vegas has a few parcels left.

There’s some land left in west Henderson beyond Inspirada.

“That’s the challenge and why land is so expensive because we’re fairly limited right now,” Bloom said. “Right now, Summerlin is really one of the only master plans that has any land. You see us going further north with the new Skye Hills master plan, which is past Skye Canyon that Olympia owns. Henderson is definitely a bit of a challenge right now. There’s some good swaths of land but not master plan sized. Even with Pulte (with its project near Lake Las Vegas with 3,000 homes), that’s a small master plan.”