Two Vegas communities in top 5 U.S. master plans

In a year that new-home, master-plan sales among the top 50 nationwide fell 2 percent in 2024, Las Vegas held its own by posting four master plans into the top 50 and saw Cadence have its highest ranking in history by placing No. 3 in the country.

The east Henderson residential development has slowly made its way up the rankings.

Its 1,386 sales in 2024 were 44 percent higher than the 964 in 2023 when it ranked sixth.

Cadence was followed by a perennial national top five master plan in Summerlin, which in 2024 dropped one spot from fourth to fifth. Its 1,055 sales were 3 percent lower than the 1,090 in 2023, a decline of 35 sales.

Inspirada in west Henderson came in 26th with 543 sales, a decline of 6 percent from 575 in 2023 when it was ranked 28th. That Inspirada number is an estimate and could change.

Jim McDade, the new president of the Las Vegas division for KB Home, which is the master developer of Inspirada, said the project is in its twilight years. While sales remain robust, the number of closings at the end of the year depends on availability.

KB, Toll Brothers and Tri Pointe Homes are the builders in the master plan that is approaching 7,000 homes and has a build-out of 7,500-plus

“It’s sad to see it go. I wish we had two more Inspiradas,” McDade said. “We’re going to build out in 2026. We’re going to be done.”

KB has products in the mid-$300,000s to mid $500,000s.

There’s one final 5-acre park to be built in Inspirada that will be completed in 2025 with a pool, fields and basketball court.

McDade said they’re bullish on Inspirada in 2025 since it’s a known commodity and demand has been consistent with people wanting to live there.

“It’s not a shock to people where mortgage rates are to where they were a year or two ago,” McDade said. “Vegas and Henderson in particular are good consistent markets. Henderson has good schools and all that. We’re not seeing it slack off. We will finish on a high note for sure.”

Heartland at Tule Springs in North Las Vegas hit its first year-end ranking at 39 with 463 sales. It had 303 in 2023.

The builder numbers are tracked by homebuilding consultants RCLCO and John Burns Real Estate Consulting.

RCLCO reported 35,123 sales in the top 50 during 2024, down 2 percent from the 35,856 sales in the top 50 in 2023.

The Villages in Florida again led the nation in sales with 3,208 to keep its No. 1 ranking. Its sales rose 6 percent year-over-year.

Lakewood Ranch in Sarasota was No. 2 again with 2,210 sales, a 1 percent decline over 2023.

Cadence was third with 1,386 followed by Sunterra in Katy, Texas, with 1,325 sales, a 2 percent year-over-year increase and Summerlin at fifth with 1,055.

Skye Canyon in northwest Las Vegas ranked 67th with 299 sales, down from 334 sales in 2023, when it ranked 64th. It was ranked 35th in 2022 with 577 sales. It has been selling down its inventory.

John Burns reported builders effectively employed incentives and quick-move-in homes to address challenges, including elevated mortgage rates, political uncertainty and growing competition.

“The 500+ communities we surveyed enticed homebuyers with their desirable lifestyles, including community amenities, good schools and a variety of housing options,” said Jody Kahn, senior vice president of research surveys for John Burns.

Kahn said that after mortgage rates rose sharply, many builders began experimenting with rate buy-downs to attract buyers with lower monthly payments. This approach gained traction as builders refined their use of buy-downs, making them a central component of their sales strategies throughout 2024.

“Rates remained elevated following the Federal Reserve’s September short-term rate cut, prompting builders to maintain aggressive incentives,” Kahn said. “Rate buy-downs and contributions to closing costs accounted for the bulk of these incentives, though builders also resorted to price reductions on some standing inventory homes to promote sales.”

Karl Pischke, principal at RCLCO, said it’s exciting to see two Las Vegas communities in the top five, “and that’s a telling fact of the appeal of Vegas and continuing to grow its base as folks continue to relocate to Nevada.”

Pischke credited the Cadence growth with its additional inventory to sell and several neighborhoods starting in the mid-$300,000s, a price point that is underserved in Las Vegas.

“That helped bolster sales and take the No 3 spot,” Pischke said.

Pischke praised Summerlin for its continued ranking in the the top five and its history of being one of the longest-tenured communities on the RCLCO list. Summerlin has spent 28 years on the RCLCO top 25 list of the 31 years the list has been published, starting in 1994. It was in the top 10 from 1994 to 2007, when the Great Recession hurt sales in Las Vegas.

“Summerlin’s long-running top ranking speaks volumes about its enduring appeal,” Pischke said. “It’s an impressive run and a distinction held by no other master-plan community in the country.”

The backdrop of 2024 was about the headwinds of getting buyers “over the finish line” heading into the second and third quarters when there was uncertainty of the presidential election “one way or another. People didn’t want to make a move until they had that certainty of what was happening,” Pischke said.

Many communities reported an uptick in sales in November that helped them close out 2024 in a stronger fashion and point the way forward for 2025, Pischke said.

“There were economic headwinds of mortgage rates remaining higher than we expected them to remain, and the fact that so many communities did well, especially Cadence increasing 44 percent, the term we use is resiliency,” Pischke said. “It shows that homebuyer demand continues to be resilient despite these clear challenges that were unique to 2024 that we didn’t necessarily see in 2023.”

Las Vegas by percentage represented about 10 percent of the top 50 list in 2024, up from 7.3 percent a year ago with three communities in the top 50, compared with the four in 2024.

“It’s clear that Las Vegas as a destination is growing in its appeal to households and is able to cement itself as one of the heavy hitters in master-planned community development,” Pischke said. “It’s up there with other mainstays like Phoenix, Houston and Sarasota that have a growing and significant master-plan community industry.”

Pischke called it impressive that Heartland at Tule Springs was able to crack into the top 40 in its infancy and was excited to see what it means for 2025 in its growth. He said the same of Inspirada, which has been in the top 25 range for several years.

For 2025, Pischke said he expects mortgage rates to moderate and lead to a growth in sales of new homes. The ability of builders to buy down mortgage rates will continue to drive sales. Elevated mortgage rates in the upper 6 percent have kept retail inventory off the market because sellers don’t want to give up their lower mortgage rates to buy another home, Pischke said.

“It’s making new homes more attractive for consumers, and that continues to be the case as well,” Pischke said. “Our reading of the tea leaves is 2025 will be a slightly stronger year for new home sales than we saw in 2024, but that we’re going to see a more significant lift in 2026, when we expect mortgage rates to get to that 6 percent or below mark that will help push more consumers off the fence to look to purchase new homes.”

Cheryl Gowan, vice president of marketing with the Landwell Co., the developer of Cadence, said they’re proud of the ranking and called it a tribute to their builders, many of whom offer varying incentives to buyers.

“We still have a lot of homes in the mid-$300,000s and low-$400,000s, and it’s great for first-time homebuyers,” Gowan said.

Cadence has 29 neighborhoods available for sale, and the amount of product with a variety of pricing options, including many that are affordable, make the community desirable, Gowan said. Prices go up to $800,000 for those looking for a larger home, and there are townhomes too.

“Cadence is hitting its stride, certainly,” Gowan said, while acknowledging that other master plans are selling out.

Cadence has sold 6,200 homes, including attached and detached, and the build-out is 12,250, Gowan said.

In 2025, D.R. Horton is opening another single-story, detached-home neighborhood in the first quarter.

Beazer opened a townhome neighborhood in October in the upper $300,000s and opened a single-family neighborhood one-story and two-story during the holidays in the upper $400,000s and low $500,000s.

“We see a very strong 2025 and sales holding steady,” Gowan said.

Howard Hughes Holdings, the developer of Summerlin, released a statement about its Las Vegas and Texas master plans placing in the top 10. “The strong demand for the high-quality, amenity-rich lifestyles our communities offer — drawing top talent and businesses seeking access to a skilled workforce and a business-friendly environment,” according to David R. O’Reilly, CEO of Howard Hughes.

O’Reilly said that the consistency year-over-year among 2024 top performers highlighted the resilient nature of U.S. homebuyer demand and specifically, “the tremendous appeal of master-planned communities located in the Sunbelt.” Nevada demonstrated its continued strong appeal, claiming over 26 percent of all sales among the top five bestselling master plans.

“When Summerlin began to take shape more than 35 years ago, its master plan envisioned a dynamic mixed-used development that would set the standard for master plans for years to come,” said Jose Bustamante, president of the Nevada Region at Howard Hughes in a statement.

“The community’s long-term top sales ranking clearly highlights its decades-long success as Southern Nevada’s premier community and is a model national real estate development. Going forward, we expect to remain a top-selling master-planned community as we continue to develop our remaining land holdings across Summerlin, including new commercial opportunities at Downtown Summerlin, our vibrant central gathering place activated with exciting dining, shopping, entertainment and sports events.”

During 2025, Summerlin expects to add more than a dozen new neighborhoods to its lineup that will continue to add to the diversity of home offerings in the community, Bustamante said.

In addition, three new parks are projected to open in 2025, adding to the community’s significant acreage set aside for structured play and passive open areas and continuing the community’s dedication to providing an active and outdoor lifestyle that embraces connection to the natural environment, he added.