Comeback kid KB Home scores No. 1 spot

KB Home, which took a hit to its sales in the first half of 2020 when it fell to fourth in the builder rankings midyear, had a strong comeback in the last six months to leapfrog the competition and finish the year No. 1.

KB finished 2020 with 1,586 net sales — sales minus cancellations — four more than it had in 2019. No builder had a stronger second half of 2020, according to statistics provided by Home Builders Research.

KB only had 634 net sales through June, which put it in fourth place in the rankings at the time. Its sales rose 50 percent over its first-half total, or 932, between July and December.

KB Home just edged out Lennar, which had 1,512 sales. Lennar was the No. 1 builder in 2019 with 1,612 sales while KB was second with its 1,582.

In 2020, DR Horton was a close third with 1,490 sales, which is a 53 percent increase over its 977 sales in 2019. The builder was No. 1 in the rankings at the end of June, bolstered by its Valley Vista project in North Las Vegas that emerged in 2020 as the No. 6 master-planned community in the nation two years after it opened.

Pulte was No. 4 with 1,373 sales. It had 1,183 in 2019, which represented a gain of 16 percent. It acquired local private builder American West Homes in 2019, which means only public builders made the top 10 list.

Richmond American was No. 5 with 1,166 sales, a gain over the 1,128 sales in 2019.

Century Communities was No. 6 with 915 sales, a gain of 65 percent over the 553 sales in 2019. It opened Craig Ranch in North Las Vegas.

Beazer Homes was No. 7 with 669 sales, a 30 percent increase over the 512 sales in 2019.

Pardee Homes, which has been renamed Tri Pointe Homes in Las Vegas, had 531 sales, a slight gain over the 526 in 2019.

Woodside Homes had 386 sales, a 9 percent increase over the 353 in 2019.

Toll Brothers came in at No. 10 with 379 sales, a decline of three from 382 in 2019.

There were 10,485 new home closings in 2020, which is 15 fewer than 2019. The year saw 8,596 single-family closings, a decline of 316 or 3.6 percent. There were 1,831 new town home and condo closings, a gain of 251 or 16 percent over 2019, Home Builders Research reported.

Attached products accounted for 17.5 percent of new home closings in 2020, up from 14.9 percent in 2019. Over a five-year span from 2016 to 2020, attached product market share has increased by 10 percent, Home Builders Research reported.

The market is well-positioned for 2021.

There were 1,885 permits issued to builders in 2020, a gain of 1,301 or 12 percent over 2019.

The December 2020 new home net sales total of 1,018 was the highest reported for December since 2006 (1,222) as was the case in November, said Home Builders Research President Andrew Smith.

The fourth-quarter net sales total of 2,872 was also the highest since 2006 and a 33 percent year-to-year increase over the fourth quarter of 2019. The firm reported more than 1,000 new home net sales in seven of the 12 months of 2020, something that had not happened since 2007.

That is all taking place amid a higher level of unemployment and concerns of the ongoing pandemic.

“Despite all of this, the local housing market continues to thrive as 2021 has gotten underway,” Smith said. “A couple of anomalous months notwithstanding, low interest rates and eye-opening levels of in-migration have been two major factors propelling the housing market to what really was historic levels in many ways in 2020.”

Prices remained fairly stable in 2020. The median price of a new single-family was $390,000, a decline of 0.26 percent. The median price of new attached products was $288,818, which was 2.25 percent higher, according to Home Builders Research.

KB Home No. 1

Home Builders Research said KB Home finished 2020 strong. It was the top-selling builder in December with 192 net sales across 36 communities. Seven of their projects reported 10 or more net sales for the month led by Whistling Sands, an infill project opened in November 2020 near Spring Mountain Road and Durango Drive with 20 net sales.

Brian Kunec, president and regional general manager of KB Homes’ Las Vegas and Seattle divisions, said they’re proud of the No. 1 ranking.

“That was a big accomplishment for us,” Kunec said. “We were the No. 1 builder way back when in (the mid-2000s). It’s been a while until we were able to get back to that milestone. And we’re poised for great growth in 2021. We have a great supply of lots so that we have (room) for even more growth in 2022.”

Kunec said KB fell to No. 4 midyear after it let a lot of buyers out of the contracts when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. It was No. 1 in the first few months of the year until the pandemic hit in March.

“We were fully confident in our strategy when the major part of the pandemic hit,” Kunec said. “We took an approach that was unlike other builders. We cleaned our backlog out. If people unfortunately lost their jobs, we ended up cancelling them and gave their deposits back. We wished if they got their job back to come back and buy a KB Home. It was even sweeter to finish in the No. 1 spot because of what we had to do throughout the year.”

Kunec said KB is ready for a strong 2021. It just opened a new town home product in Summerlin in the new Red Point Village. He said they remain bullish on the southwest valley where they have multiple communities. It’s Tule Springs community in North Las Vegas continues to do well and its sales in Inspirada in west Henderson were up about 10 percent, he said.

“We opened eight new communities across the valley in 2020, and we got another 11 on tap in 2021,” Kunec said. “Our core business strategy is about introducing new products. The pandemic has spurred accelerated demand, particularly in certain buyer segments. One is millennials. You have 80 million millennials out there who are finally getting to the time of getting married and having children, buying a home and getting out of apartments. First-time buyers are a huge segment of that millennial population, and that is in our wheelhouse. We’re a first-time buyer builder. Having great products and great locations in targeting that first-time homebuyers drove us to No. 1 in 2020.”

Kunec said KB opened its town home sales in Red Point in Summerlin in December. It’s called Ascent and selling well. They are two stories and the smallest plan of less than 1,400 square feet goes for just under $320,000. The biggest unit of 1,860 square feet sells for around $355,000.

“It’s a revised product of our Inspirada town homes,” Kunec said. “They are rear-alley products so the driveway is in the rear of the unit. We tweaked the floor plan to the Summerlin requirements of outdoor living and architecture on the outside. We don’t take a different strategy because it’s Summerlin. We fit right in because we are an entry-level buyer there.”

Market overview

■ The No. 1 subdivision sold in the valley was the town home project Mosaic on South Las Vegas Boulevard by Touchstone Living. It had net sales of 183 units in 2020.

■ Heritage at Cadence in Henderson with the Symphony product, an age-qualified community by Lennar, was No. 2 in the valley with 155 net sales.

■ DR Horton dominated the three through nine spots in the product rankings with six of those in its Valley Vista master plan in North Las Vegas.

■ The top-selling community overall in December was Crystal Canyon in Summerlin from Woodside Homes with 31 net sales.

A net sale is counted during the building process. A closed sale is when the owner takes possession of the home and is the final count.

Summerlin’s Reverence Heights from Pulte Group closed the most homes in 2020 at 151 with a median closing price of $755,534.