LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — New home builders in Las Vegas have seen a significant slowdown in home sales.
Cynthia Dillion is a New Homes Sales Agent for Harmony Homes and she says she's lucky if she hosts two tours a day to interested buyers.
"We have had a decrease in sales, it has been due to the market shift, rate changes, and things like that,” Dillon said.
She says at a new development in West Las Vegas, selling a home has become a challenge. She says back in March, she had a waitlist, but now they struggle just to get people into their office.
"We had an interest list of about 100 people per floor plan and we have 3-floor plans and now we have about 5 people on each one of those,” Dillon said.
A recent Las Vegas-based report by Home Builders Research says builders logged 434 net sales in July. That's down 61.5% from the same month last year. Andrew Smith, President of Home Builders Research says since May they have seen a significant year-to-year decrease in new homes sold.
"It is a big change and it is abnormal to be as low as it has been seasonally speaking," Smith said.
He says builders also pulled 539 new-home permits last month.
That's down 50% from July of 2021, he says this indicates a shrinking construction pipeline.
"At that same time it can also be a transition back to a normal situation," Smith said.
Jennifer Graff, the Founder of New Home Experts Las Vegas says she's also had a decrease in the number of buyers looking for homes. She says we had a record-breaking year in 2021 and now we're comparing it to a year of a significant slowdown.
"Prices are still high, rates are higher, all of a sudden the same house is costing several hundreds of dollars more a month in payments and buyers are nervous and waiting to see what will happen,” Graff said.
But she says the buyer has control. Dillon says while Harmony Homes are more affordable starting at $300,000, the company is still offering incentives, like appliances and even assistance with closing costs.
"Before we were giving 4,000 and at some points, we didn't have to give anything, now we are giving 6,000 and allowing them to buy down their rate with that," Dillon said.
