Many homebuilders are looking to build town homes and condos to meet the needs of homebuyers who want affordable housing and the lock-and-leave lifestyle. Meanwhile, high-rise condos in downtown Las Vegas are on their last sales. Here is an update on the market.
CENTURY COMMUNITIES
Century Communities has Fiori in Tuscany in east Henderson, where it recorded 29 closings and ranked 14th for the year. Its prices start at $253,990.
CHRISTOPHER HOMES
Vu luxury town homes in MacDonald Highlands ranked 13th on the list in closings with 32. That product by Christopher Homes had four on the Top 20 new home sales list as compiled through the end of June. The sales launched in 2017, and nearly 80 of the 110 units have been sold. Prices start in the low $900,000s and can surpass $2 million.
EDWARD HOMES
Edward Home is wrapping up the Coronado condo development in Summerlin in The Paseos village by the end of the year. The prices start in the low $300,000s.
It has the Vita Bella town home project in Lake Las Vegas and started the construction on its final building with two of the six units sold. It will be completed in May. Another building will be completed in January. Prices start at $380,000.
KB HOME
The builder has led the way in 2019 with its 99 closings at the Groves at Inspirada, where home prices start in the $230,000s. That project dates back to more than a decade ago before the Great Recession and was revived in 2014.
Brian Kunec, the builder’s regional general manager, said it has attracted millennials and first-time buyers with two story-units with sizes from 1,366 square feet to 1,842 square feet and as large as four bedrooms. Families are buying them because they are attracted to not only the price but buying in a mature master plan with parks, pools and other amenities, he said.
“We’ve been one of the leaders in pushing this for the last few years, and it’s entry-level, affordable product,” Kunec said. “As price points have escalated higher, people still have a budget to work with. Although median incomes have grown, it’s still a valley that looks for affordability. The town house market because of the extra density you can get on the site planning helps offset some of the higher land costs and offer a more affordable product. It’s starting to fit a niche because of the price point.”
At No. 9 in closings, Autumn Winds, 1½ miles south of Allegiant Stadium and west of Town Square, has prices that start in the $250,000s with sizes from 1,500 square feet to 1,700 square feet with as many as three bedrooms.
KB Home has two attached projects in North Las Vegas, the Groves at Saddlebrook, starting at $210,000, and the paired-homes Aurora Heights, which was No. 15 in closings, starting in the $240,000s.
KB has plans for more town home development throughout the valley.
One 137-home community will be in a new Summerlin village, Redpoint, that is similar to what KB is doing at Inspirada. Prices haven’t been set for the project, for which sales will start in the second half of 2020.
“We’re actively looking at parcels to do more attached,” Kunec said. “The economy is still strong, and we’re seeing significant in-migration of population growth. You not only have people looking for a price-point play, but we’re starting to see more renters than want to own. They are doing a payment-per-month comparison, and a town home product is something you can own. We’re starting to see more millennials come into the purchase market, and they like the no-maintenance of the town house.”
RICHMOND AMERICAN
Home Builders Research reported Richmond American placed 16th through August with 24 closings at its Duetto collection in Cadence in east Henderson, but the company said all 71 of its available town homes have been sold in one year and will be closed in the coming months. Three of 74 built will be kept as models.
Steve Corbett, vice president of sales, said the success of Duetto prompted a second phase of 74 town homes that will open at the end of the year and have about the same base price point of $255,000. Duetto started at $235,000 a year ago, he said.
The homes measure from 1,320 square feet to 1,520 square feet. There are two units attached with two stories and two-car garage.
“Duetto was our first attached product for Richmond American in Las Vegas, and the success of that encouraged us to go out and look for other land for that product.”
Besides Cadence, there are plans to take the concept to Summerlin in the second quarter of 2020 with a project called Moro Rock. Sales will start by May, but prices are yet to be determined.
“Anytime you can get land in Summerlin for any product, you jump all over that,” Corbett said. “We had a meeting with Summerlin last week, and there’s quite a bit of urban development going on with attached product and urban lifestyle in that (Fairway Hills) corridor. We happen to be one of the first builders out there along with Lennar. We are looking for an affordable price point for this product relative to the geographic area.”
SHEA HOMES
General Manager Kyle Tibbitts said that Trilogy for active adults has been a success and that it is planning a second age-qualified, town home project.
“We’re continuing to see a lot of interest in a lock-and-leave lifestyle with the freedom to travel more and people interested in downsizing,” Tibbitts said. “The community amenities are great, and people enjoy the club that we have, which is like living at a resort with swimming pool, fitness center and activities going on.”
Trilogy has sold about 30 percent of its 354 units. Models opened in February 2018.
Units start at 1,500 square feet, and prices start at $500,000 and go to about $700,000.
“We’re seeing a lot of buyers come out of The Ridges, Red Rock Country Club, Spanish Trails, who are looking to downsize but don’t want to leave the area but want to simplify their life” Tibbitts said. “We’re also seeing people coming from California. People buying here want to be close to Downtown Summerlin and Red Rock for biking and hiking.”
Shea plans to build duplexes as part of a Trilogy-branded community in addition to single-family homes in a new master plan in the northwest valley called Sunstone. Prices haven’t been determined.
“It will probably be more affordable, but it’s important to have diversity (of housing) inside the community,” Tibbitts said. “I don’t think it will outpace single-family, but it will find its proper percentage in the market.”
TOLL BROTHERS
Ernie Alegre, senior sales manager with Toll Brothers, said that with its Fairway Hills town home project in The Ridges, the company is seeing those residents downsize from their luxury homes. They “desire the elegance and prestige of the location” but want a lifestyle in which they travel and not worry about their yard, he said. The community has the amenities they desire in a gated community: a clubhouse, gym and pool, he added.
There are three homes per building, and they range from 2,100 square feet to 3,250 square feet and are priced from the upper $691,000 to $885,000.
The company has 50 units left to sell out of 120 town homes planned.
Toll Brothers also has Mira Villa, a stalled Summerlin condo project started before the recession that it revived in 2018. The company has sold 24 of the 103 planned. They start in the $600,000s and go up to $1.9 million for the penthouse.
TOUCHSTONE LIVING
It’s touting Mosaic just off Las Vegas Boulevard South with no down payment and the ability to get a mortgage payment that is similar to what the person pays in rent.
The models are set to open in the spring. The first phase will have 38 town homes with move-ins by early 2020. The preliminary price points start at $260,000.
WILLIAM LYON
William Lyon fell just outside the top 10 with its Moda at Affinity collection of condos in Summerlin with 35 sales, but Affinity was a big player in the attached housing market.
Besides those 35 sales in Moda, there were 21 sales at its Evoke collection of triplexes, 17 at its Revo collection of duplexes and 13 at the Savu collection of triplexes.
Trish Ketchell, the online concierge with William Lyon, said the Moda collection has one and two bedrooms with 16 condos per building. The one bedroom at 874 square feet starts at $239,900.
Evoke starts at 1,252 square feet for a single-story two bedroom with two-car garage at $357,900. Revo starts at 2,047 square feet at $395,900. Savu starts at 1,734 square feet at $374,900.
William Lyon has sold out about two-thirds of the 485 units.
“People love that its turnkey because the lock-and-leave lifestyle is what they are after,” Ketchell said. “They have a state-of-the-art fitness center, and there are a couple of pools. It’s very swanky with cabanas and fire pits and clubish feel to it.”
HIGH-RISE CONDOS
Three moderately priced condo towers with developer units yet to be sold made the Top 20 list of closings during the first eight months, though high-rise sales in Las Vegas are down from 2018.
* One Las Vegas is 12th with 33 closings.
* The Ogden is 18th with 22 closings.
* Juhl has 21 closings.
KRE Capital, with Dune Real Estate Partners and Northcap, bought The Ogden in 2013, and the group also owns Juhl in downtown Las Vegas and One Las Vegas on Las Vegas Boulevard South.
Uri Vaknin, a partner with KRE, said it tracked higher sales numbers through the end of September with 34 at The Ogden, 36 at One Las Vegas and 42 at Juhl. Sales in the condo market are down about 10 percent from 2018 because people are waiting out the economy and see whether a recession hits as some predict, he said.
“We’ve had to do some education with buyers because what they think with Las Vegas and recession — they go to 2008,” Vaknin said. “We tell the dynamics of the marketplace are very different from then.”
Sales continue with a record of $1.1 million at One Las Vegas, and a penthouse at Juhl is under contract for $749,000, where the average price of remaining units is $350,000. The other properties have an average price of remaining units of more than $500,000.
