What companies are building the most homes in Las Vegas now?
Lennar Corp. has led the charge for new home construction in Clark County over the past few years, but the Miami-Florida-based homebuilder has slowed its building since the second quarter of last year, according to new data.
In 2023, Lennar built about 1,879 homes in Clark County (the most of any builder), reaching a high water mark in the second quarter when 547 homes were constructed, according to new statistics provided to the Las Vegas Review-Journal from residential construction data company Zonda. In the first quarter of 2024, the company, which is the largest homebuilder in the country, has constructed 444 homes in the county.
When it comes to 2024 specifically, Los Angeles-based KB Home is building the most homes in the county, with 481 homes constructed in the first quarter.
Both Lennar and KB Home did not respond to requests for comment about their building strategy or plans for the Las Vegas Valley new home residential market.
Tim Kelly Kiernan, the branch manager for Realty One Group, said new homes are offering flexible financing for buyers, which given the current mortgage rate climate is enticing a lot of interest.
“The new homes builders ability to work with the buyers regarding securing a better interest rate, particularly the 2-1 buydown programs they are offering is attracting homebuyers to the new homes as opposed to the resale market.
Kiernan is referring to a type of financing where mortgages are offered at a lower rate for two years before it rises to the current market rate. New homebuilders across the country have been utilizing financing arms of their companies to offer such incentives in response to many bank’s inability to offer reduced rates.
According to Redfin, the current mortgage rate is at 7.2 percent for a 30-year-fixed rate, which is the highest its been since November 2023.
County outlook
The ZIP code of 89135 (Summerlin South and Blue Diamond) has sold the most homes in terms of dollar volume, with $56.5 million, followed by Summerlin West, for the week ending May 13, according to Clark County property records.
In terms of sales volume, the ZIP code of 89141 (south of Enterprise and north of Sloan), is leading the county the past week with 28 homes sold, which includes single-family homes, townhomes and condos. Tied for first is an area in central North Las Vegas with 28 homes sold.
Condo and townhome prices in the Las Vegas Valley have reached an all-time high, according to statistics from the Las Vegas Realtors, who pull from the Multiple Listings Service.
The median price of a condo or townhouse sold in the valley last month was $290,000, a 7.4 percent increase from April 2023. This broke the all-time high set back in August 2022, when the average property sold for $287,000.
North Las Vegas has been particularly hard hit by the nation’s housing crisis, as home prices have doubled in the past seven years, one of the highest increases in the valley and the entire country, according to a new study.
The average house in the city of North Las Vegas now sits at $410,000, according to a Point2 study, and similarly it took seven years and one month for home prices in the city of Las Vegas to double to $430,000.
Contact Patrick Blennerhassett at pblennerhassett@reviewjournal.com.
