Tri Pointe Home Division President Klif Andrews said while the Las Vegas housing market has slowed at the end of the year, as it typically does, the builder is looking forward to unveiling three new projects in December and January and kick off 2025 on a strong note.
Andrews said mortgage rates are lower than a year ago, and that has made a difference in getting people off the sidelines as the Federal Reserve continues to trim the Fed Funds rate. He said the Fed, however, is not the focus of the builder, and instead it’s about Tri Pointe buying rates down to give buyers incentives to purchase.
“I’m looking forward to a new market next year so it should be exciting,” Andrews said. “A lot of buyers are waiting until next year so we’re trying to encourage folks to buy with some great incentives right now. We’re pushing some great lower-rate incentives — fixed rates as low as 4.99 percent we can offer our buyers (since the fall). That’s an exciting rate for a lot of buyers.”
There’s also other good signs, Andrews said. Owners of existing homes are starting to list their homes in greater numbers so that will encourage more people to sell and move up to a new home, he added.
As noted by national homebuilder analysts, Las Vegas has been better positioned than most markets when it comes to new home sales in 2024 with sales up double-digits year-over-year.
“It’s been spotty across the nation from one market to the next,” Andrews said. “Our market still sees a lot of migration from other states that supports it. We will be very busy once the new year begins. The spring selling season has been hot for the last five years, and I think that will continue.”
Andrews continues to be optimistic about the luxury market as well.
Models are under construction on the SouthShore of Lake Las Vegas for its La Cova project. It opens in January with 42 waterfront homes starting in the $2-million-plus category. The single-story and two-story homes range from 2,800 square feet to 4,200 square feet.
Tri Pointe also has plans for two other luxury projects in the summer of 2025 in Summerlin North off Far Hills Avenue in the new Grand Park village. Construction on models will start in April and prices are expected to start in the high $1 millions.
“The luxury market overall is very strong,” Andrews said. “It’s well supported by migration from California buyers. The luxury market doesn’t have enough supply on the new-home and resale side, and that’s why that market is very hot because we see those high net-worth individuals migrate here looking for homes in the $2 millions and $3 millions. They want an excellent luxury home, and that’s undersupplied in the Las Vegas market.”
Tri Pointe’s latest luxury community, Overlook in Summerlin, closed out in June. Those homes went for the mid-$1 millions.
“We’re one of the most active new homebuilders in the luxury space with a lot of experience dealing with the luxury buyer,” Andrews said. “We know the products well and in particular we focused on designing contemporary architecture to excite the demanding high-end buyers, and that’s been very successful for us.”
Tri Pointe will be the first builder to open the Grand Park village in December with its Edgewood single-family homes priced in the $700,000s and $800,000s. The homes range from 2,100 square feet to 2,700 square feet and are both one stories and two stories. Tri Pointe has 53 lots.
Alder in the northwest valley in Tri Pointe’s Kyle Pointe community opens in December and features 159 lots. The homes range from 1,900 square feet to 2,765 square feet and are two stories with prices in the $500,000s.
In evaluating the new-home market, Andrew said he expects to see builders continue to have success with town homes that have made up a greater share of the sales because of their lower price points.
“We will have several town home communities open next year, and those have great acceptance in the marketplace,” Andrews said. “We continue to see great demand for entry-level priced town homes. We have them priced between $350,000 and $500,000. It helps with affordability, but a lot of people like the town home lifestyle with a lock-and-leave situation. We have pool amenities in all of our attached communities.”
