KB Home Overtakes Lennar in Las Vegas Home Building

Lennar built the most homes in the Las Vegas market last year, but KB Home now leads the hardhats in local home construction.

Miami-based Lennar built 1,879 homes in Clark County last year, the most of any builder, hitting a high of 547 homes in the second quarter, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported, citing figures from Zonda.

In the first quarter, the nation’s largest homebuilder built 444 homes — but was overtaken by Los Angeles-based KB Home, which built 481 homes across the desert metropolis.

Tim Kelly Kiernan, branch manager for Realty One Group, said developers are offering flexible financing for buyers, which helps fuel sales given higher mortgage rates.

Also, builders help buyers finance mortgages at a lower rate for two years before it rises to the current market rate, now above 7 percent. While financing arms of new home builders across the U.S. have been wooing buyers with such incentives, banks won’t offer reduced rates.

“The new homebuilders’ ability to work with the buyers regarding securing a better interest rate, particularly the 2-1 buydown programs they are offering, is attracting homebuyers to the new homes as opposed to the resale market,” Kiernan told the Review-Journal.

In terms of dollar volume, homes in zip code 89135 in Summerlin South and Blue Diamond reached the greatest sales, at $56.5 million for the week ending May 13, followed by Summerlin West, according to the Review-Journal, citing county property records.

In terms of sales volume, zip code 89141 in an area south of Enterprise and north of Sloan led the county over the past week with 28 homes sold, which includes single-family homes, townhomes and condos.

Tied for first is an area in central North Las Vegas, with 28 homes sold.

Typical townhome and condo prices in greater Las Vegas hit a record $290,000 last month, a 7.4 percent jump over last year, as demand outpaces supply, according to figures from Las Vegas Realtors.

The price surpassed the previous record set in August 2022, when the typical property sold for $287,000.

Typical home prices in North Las Vegas have doubled to $410,000 in the past seven years, among the highest increases in the Las Vegas Valley and the nation, according to a Point2 study.

At the same time, it took seven years and a month for median home prices in the city of Las Vegas to double to $430,000. Henderson wasn’t far behind, taking eight years for typical home prices to double to $485,000.

This puts North Las Vegas and Las Vegas at Nos. 10 and 11, respectively, in the nation for home price growth, along with such cities as Charlotte, North Carolina; Chandler, Arizona; and Cincinnati, Ohio, according to the Review-Journal.

— Dana Bartholomew