Las Vegas builders land more home sales, but business down from ‘21

Southern Nevada builders sold a larger tally of houses in September, but business is still far below year-ago levels as the market overall slows down.

Builders notched 580 net sales — newly signed purchase contracts minus cancellations — in the Las Vegas area in September, up 19 percent from August, according to Home Builders Research.

But the sales tally was down almost 41 percent from September of last year. Among the top 10-selling builders in the region, all but one had a double-digit percentage drop in sales in the third quarter compared with the same period last year, the firm reported

Builders pulled 539 new-home permits in September, down 54 percent year over year, indicating a sharp drop in construction plans.

On top of that, their land buying activity “remained slow” in September, Home Builders Research President Andrew Smith wrote in the report.

Locally and nationally, homebuyers have been largely pumping the brakes for months, as a sharp jump in mortgage rates wiped out the cheap money that fueled America’s unexpected housing boom after the pandemic hit.

The average rate on a 30-year home loan was 6.95 percent as of Thursday, down from 7.08 percent last week but up from 3.09 percent a year ago, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported.

Last week, rates eclipsed 7 percent for the first time since April 2002.

Following last year’s buying spree, sales totals in Southern Nevada have dropped sharply from year-ago levels, sellers have increasingly slashed their prices, and builders have offered more incentives to house hunters and higher commissions for agents whose clients buy from them.

Locally, builders logged “only” 1,502 net sales in the third quarter this year, down almost 50 percent from the same period last year, according to Home Builders Research.

Across the U.S., the pace of builders’ home sales in September was down 10.9 percent from August and 17.6 percent from September 2021, according to the U.S. Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development.

“Builders continue to face lower buyer traffic due to declining affordability conditions as the housing downturn continues,” Jerry Konter, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders, said last week.

Contact Eli Segall at esegall@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0342. Follow @eli_segall on Twitter.