Report: Las Vegas new-home sales, prices up

Las Vegas Strip casinos can be seen behind new home construction Wednesday, July 30, 2014, in Summerlin.

Las Vegas homebuilders had another boost in business last month, as sales and prices continued outpacing last year’s totals, a new report shows.

Builders sold 686 new homes in Southern Nevada in September, bringing the year’s total to 4,908. That’s up 13 percent from the same nine-month period in 2014, according to Las Vegas-based Home Builders Research.

The median sales price of last month’s closings was $320,184, up 7 percent from a year earlier. Builders also pulled 549 new-home permits in September, putting the year’s tally at 6,006, up 15 percent from the same period last year, indicating a jump in construction plans.

Last month’s permit total, however, was a “disappointment,” as it fell by 98 permits from August, Home Builders Research founder Dennis Smith said.

Overall, despite the year-over-year growth in development plans, Smith said he’s “continually reminding those with short memories” that a normal tally is about 20,000 permits a year. That’s based on data from 1990 to 2002, before the bubble years, he said.

Smith expects builders to pull at least 7,500 permits this year.

In his report, Smith also said buyers cancelled 18 percent of gross purchases last month, down from 21 percent in September 2014, and that certain areas of the valley had faster year-over-year sales growth than others.

Excluding cancellations, buyers picked up 212 new homes in the southwest valley last month, up 16 percent from September 2014; 163 homes in the northwest, up 44 percent; 124 homes in Henderson, up 65 percent; and 76 homes in North Las Vegas, up 90 percent.

According to Smith’s data, the only area with a drop in sales was the east side. Builders sold 18 homes there last month, down 22 percent from September 2014.

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