International Builders Show starts Tuesday

The National Association of Home Builders kicks off its 81st International Builders’ Show on Tuesday at the Las Vegas Convention Center and has already mapped out its plan to showcase a luxury home at its 2027 return to the Strip.

The show, which runs through Thursday, will return to Orlando, Florida, in 2026 for the final time before it permanently returns to Las Vegas in 2027. The NAHB is already preparing by outlining the 2027 New American Home that will be featured that week.

The National Association of Home Builders’ task force recently completed interviews with several custom builders and selected Las Vegas luxury builder Blue Heron to build it in Southern Highlands, according to NAHB CEO Tucker Bernard. The 2025 New American Home is in Ascaya.

Las Vegas has been made the permanent home of International Builders’ Show because of larger space at the Convention Center and because the city doesn’t face infrastructure challenges to access the show unlike the traffic congestion in Orlando with its amusement park attractions.

Also, Las Vegas also has more than 150,000 hotel rooms to help accommodate the show.

“The Las Vegas Convention Center has a distinct advantage because it is away from what’s traditionally the gridlock on the roadways,” said Geoff Cassidy, chief revenue officer for the NAHB. “The Strip is always busy, but you can avoid the Strip when you’re carrying on business at the Convention Center.”

Cassidy said transport via the monorail system and the underground tunnel loop helps make it easier for people to access the show in Las Vegas.

More than 110,000 people are expected to attend the International Builders’ Show, including about 70,000 for NAHB and 40,000-plus for the Kitchen and Bath Industry Show.

There will be more than 2,400 exhibiting companies between the two shows and more than 1.2 million square feet of exhibit space. The International Builders’ Show is about 50,000 square feet larger than 2024, and the KBIS is about 30,000 square feet larger.

This marks the 12 year the International Builders’ Show show will be combined with the Kitchen and Bath Industry Show.

The International Builders’ Show is the largest residential construction trade show in the world, bringing together builders, general contractors, remodelers, architects, Realtors, mortgage brokers, flooring professionals, product suppliers and manufacturers from around the world who will showcase their products, materials and technologies. It is for industry members only.

“It’s a gathering of the industry, and there’s a ton of networking to see the exhibitors demonstrating their products and services,” Cassidy said. “We’re a marketplace for the industry for three days, and we try to make it a fun experience while people are learning while finding out about the newest and best products.”

The International Builders’ Show will feature 120 educational sessions and a variety of methods to deliver them from interactive, lectures and hands-on training, Cassidy said. There are two demonstration zones at the convention — one on craft techniques and performance construction.

“We have roundtable discussions and a variety of ways to help people get information and get educated,” Cassidy said.

The New American Home is one of many items attendees will have access to during the show. Cassidy called it an “amazing home” in Henderson overlooking the Strip, built by Sun West Custom Homes. People will be able to see the latest construction techniques and latest products.

“It’s important because the evidence is there by the numbers that go out and see it,” Cassidy said. “We have complementary buses running all three days of the show, and you just need to get a ticket at the convention center to get on the bus, and those tickets are given away in the central lobby and they’re gone by 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. Over the course of three days, we’ll have 3,000 to 4,000 people tour through that home. It’s seen as valuable and worth the time to go offsite and experience. They talk about construction techniques and amazing products provided by manufacturers and suppliers.”

Outside the convention center parking lot will be a different type of show home displayed. Endeavor Business Media will produce the Show Village with a handful of homes exhibited.

The show takes place during some anxiety and uncertainty for the homebuilding industry.

Thirty-year fixed mortgage rates have been elevated above 7 percent, which keeps lower-income buyers out of the market. They were previously in the 6 percent-plus range.

A new report showed that sentiment in February among the nation’s homebuilders hit its lowest mark in five months, primarily because of concerns over proposed tariffs — currently on pause with Mexico and Canada — would increase builder costs for lumber, appliances and other materials and goods. Home prices are up year-over-year without tariffs.

Also, the NAHB Housing Market Index said sales expectations during the next six months are taking a hit.

“Those buffeting winds associated with tariffs and labor and cost of materials continue to plague the residential construction industry,” Cassidy said. “We’ve tried to address those sorts of things with educational programs added at the last minute based on what’s going on in the world today. We’re in the business to help people be better and more effective business people and make more money.”

The NAHB says builder incentives might be becoming less effective to attract buyers with higher rates and prices.

Ahead of the show, Carl Harris, NAHB board chairman, penned a letter to President Donald Trump outlining his concerns.

“Our country is facing a severe housing shortage and affordability crisis, which you recognized on your first day in office by issuing an executive order that seeks to increase housing supply and affordability,” Harris wrote. “Bringing down the cost of housing will require a coordinated effort to remove obstacles to construction, be they regulatory, labor or supply chain related. The National Association of Home Builders stands ready to work with you to accomplish these goals. However, we have serious concerns that proposed 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico will have the opposite effect, by slowing down the domestic residential construction industry.”

Since January 2021, inputs to residential construction saw price increases of just over 30 percent, Harris said. While homebuilding is inherently domestic, builders rely on components produced abroad, with Canada and Mexico representing nearly 25 percent of building materials imports.