Developer building upscale housing project in Henderson

A local real estate firm is building an upscale housing tract in Henderson, with more in the works.

Las Vegas-based Trust Home Builders is under construction on a six-lot project along Serene Avenue just west of St. Rose Parkway. Some of the homes are starting to take shape, and co-owner Michael Johnson said he plans to sell them for $1.8 million to $2.2 million each.

Floor plans at Serene Estates, as the project is called, include a one-story, 3,950-square-foot home and a two-story, 4,545-square-foot design, according to the developer’s website, which touts luxury houses without a homeowners’ association.

Johnson said he’s also looking to break ground by year-end on a five-lot housing tract along Horizon Ridge Parkway near Gibson Road, and to break ground next year on a six-lot project further east on Horizon Ridge.

Plus, he has already been building at Lake Las Vegas.

Johnson said his target buyers include retirees from outside Nevada, though he knows full well that Las Vegas’ housing market overall hasn’t been easy on sellers lately.

“There’s so much fear among buyers right now,” he said.

Mortgage rates have largely pushed lower in recent months, giving homebuyers in Las Vegas and around the country some relief on borrowing costs. But rates are still elevated compared with what buyers have faced over the past 15 years, and home prices have stayed high in Southern Nevada, making it difficult for many would-be buyers to afford a place.

The recent declines in mortgage rates have been an “encouraging sign for affordability conditions” across the country, but the market “remains challenging,” said Buddy Hughes, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders, in a recent statement.

As he put it, most buyers are “still on the sidelines, waiting for mortgage rates to move lower.”

In Southern Nevada, builders closed 7,653 home sales this year through September, down 17 percent from the same nine-month period last year, according to Las Vegas-based Home Builders Research.

Last month, buyers paid a median price of $529,140 for newly built homes in Southern Nevada, up almost 4 percent year-over-year, the research firm reported.

Johnson, who also owns a brokerage called Trust Real Estate, said there is “buyer fatigue” in Southern Nevada amid a prolonged stretch of high prices and elevated borrowing costs, following the cheap-money-fueled buying frenzy during the pandemic.

He also noted that it seems like fewer people are moving nowadays, adding they might be holding onto their jobs and nervous about the economy.

Johnson said his target buyers are still doing well financially, given the high stock market, but figures they are being more cautious.

Still, Las Vegas hasn’t suddenly become a less-dynamic place, said Johnson, who noted he is still pushing ahead with his projects.

“I’m not letting the soft market slow me down,” he said.

Contact Eli Segall at esegall@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0342.