Las Vegas homebuilders’ sales keep tumbling

Southern Nevada’s homebuilding market slowed again last month.

Builders landed 743 net sales — newly signed sales contracts minus cancellations — locally in October, down 24 percent from the same month last year, according to a report from Las Vegas-based Home Builders Research.

They also cut back on construction plans, pulling 633 building permits last month, down 28 percent from October 2024.

Overall, builders closed 738 home sales last month, down 31 percent from a year earlier.

After a buyer signs a sales contract with a builder, it can take several months before construction of the house is finished and the sale closes.

Las Vegas’ homebuilding market has been pumping the brakes this year. Mortgage rates have largely pushed lower in recent months, giving buyers some relief on borrowing costs, but are still elevated compared with what buyers have faced for the past 15 years. Also, prices remain high in Southern Nevada, making it difficult for many would-be buyers to afford a purchase.

Locally, buyers paid a median price of $535,995 for newly built homes last month, up 2.5 percent year-over-year, Home Builders Research reported.

The price was slightly below the all-time high, from August, of $536,471, according to the report.

Across the U.S., more builders are using incentives, including lowered prices, to get deals closed, but “many potential buyers still remain on the fence,” National Association of Home Builders Chairman Buddy Hughes said in a recent report.

The association’s chief economist, Robert Dietz, said there is still weakness in demand “as a softening labor market and stretched consumer finances are contributing to a difficult sales environment.”

In Southern Nevada, builders closed nearly 8,400 sales this year through October, down 18 percent from the same 10-month stretch last year, and pulled 8,220 new-home permits, down 25 percent, according to Home Builders Research.

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