This Henderson housing community leads Las Vegas Valley in growth

The Henderson subdivision of Cadence is leading Clark County in new home construction and riding the wave of new home sales in the valley and across the country.

In the last 12 months, 153 homes have started construction in Cadence and its Symmetry Trails neighborhood, which is an average of 12.8 homes a month, according to data obtained by the Las Vegas Review-Journal from residential construction data company Zonda.

The northeast Henderson community is being spearheaded by nearly a dozen separate homebuilders, including Century Communities and Lennar, one of the largest homebuilders in the country.

Right behind Cadence on the new home construction list is Saguaro North Landings in the western valley, with 151 new home starts this year. The community, which is being built by KB Home, sits southeast of Enterprise on the west side of Interstate 15.

Henderson enclaves make up three of the top five spots for new home construction starts this year. Inspirada/Groves came in third (142), and LLV Northshore/Del Webb came in fourth (133).

New home construction appears to be finding its way back to a pre-pandemic equilibrium, according to Zonda, which obtained its data from Clark County. In the fourth quarter of 2023, 9,600 single-family residences broke ground, a drop from other quarters over the last few years. The peak for construction was in the first quarter of 2022, when work started on 13,229 homes.

Cadence has been building for a decade

Cadence is north of where state Route 582 and Lake Mead Parkway cross, to the southwest of Lake Las Vegas and directly south of Clark County Wetlands Park.

Cheryl Gowan, the vice president of marketing for The LandWell Company, the Henderson-based developer of Cadence, said although the community is getting increased attention lately, it’s actually celebrating its 10th year of development.

“We’re seeing buyers in all demographics, including first-time homeowners, new families and empty nesters,” she said, adding the first lights went on in 2014 and the community hit 1,000 homes completed in 2018.

Homes range from $400,000 to $700,000-plus, which puts them mostly above the median sale price for the Las Vegas Valley ($425,000). So far approximately 5,200 homes are occupied, and the community will have a total of 12,250 residential units when it is completed in roughly five years, Gowan said.

The community is anchored by the 50-acre Central Park and the Citrine Sky Park. It already has an ER hospital and the 30-acre Cadence Village Center.

Why new builds

Brittany Barnett, a real estate agent with Realty One Group, said she can “see the appeal” and Cadence’s increased prominence as of late. However, she also said the area still needs to fill out with more amenities to attract more buyers.

Still, it could be a cheap long-term bet for new homebuyers who are being scared away from more expensive projects in other parts of the valley, she said.

“Maybe things will pop up more out there… I think it might potentially be a good investment if you’re willing to live further out as the homes are more affordable. They are definitely a lot lower than, say, if you wanted to live in Green Valley, and if you wanted to spend the same amount you’re probably going to get a 20 year-old home.”

Barnett said new home sales now make up the majority of her sales as few existing homes are on the market, thus master-planned communities like Cadence are becoming more enticing to buyers, especially first-time homebuyers.

“I always try to take my clients to get a new home as opposed to selling them a resale home,” she said. “Also a lot of the builders are giving incentives like lenders offering promotional interest rates, and we can negotiate more.”

The Las Vegas Valley’s residential real estate market has been mired by high interest rates since last year, when sales of all properties hit their lowest levels since the Great Recession in 2008. Myriad factors are playing into a national housing crisis, including a lack of supply, elevated mortgage rates and institutional investors snatching up single-family residential properties and turning them into rentals.

Clark County recently announced $66 million of funding “to support the construction and rehabilitation of affordable housing units for low to extremely low-income residents” as part of its Welcome Home initiative.

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Contact Patrick Blennerhassett at pblennerhassett@reviewjournal.com.