Southern Nevada homebuilders' weekly sales average fell to its lowest level of 2026 in September, a new report shows

What happened

New-home sales in Southern Nevada slowed again in September, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported, citing a new report from Las Vegas-based Home Builders Research. Builders recorded 483 net sales for the month, down 5 percent from September of last year. Net sales count newly signed contracts minus cancellations.

The monthly total was not far from last year's level. But the weekly average of net sales, 121, was the lowest of 2026. Home Builders Research President Andrew Smith wrote in the report that the weekly average "decreased to the lowest total of the year once again."

Permits, sales and closings by the numbers

Permits nearly flat in September

Construction plans held about steady. Builders pulled 585 new-home permits in September, according to Home Builders Research, which was down by just three, or 0.5 percent, from the same month a year earlier.

Closings down 20 percent this year

Builders closed 6,143 home sales in Southern Nevada from January through September, Home Builders Research reported. That was down 20 percent from the same nine months last year. The Review-Journal noted that after a buyer signs a contract with a builder, it can take several months for the house to be finished and the sale to close.

Why buyers are pulling back

According to the Review-Journal, builder sales in Southern Nevada have dropped sharply over the past few years. High prices and elevated mortgage rates have made it harder for many would-be buyers to afford a home, the outlet reported. Most of the local market is single-family homes.

UNLV report shows a steep permit drop

A recent report from UNLV's Lied Center for Real Estate found that residential building permits issued in Southern Nevada in the first half of this year fell 35 percent from the same six months of 2025. That was the largest decline among the nation's 55 largest metro areas, according to the report.

The Review-Journal noted that residential building in Southern Nevada leans heavily toward single-family housing tracts, and that local builder sales and permit totals usually move in a similar direction. For more coverage of the local market, see our real estate section.

Large communities still moving ahead

Despite the slowdown, developers are still pushing forward with major projects around the valley, the Review-Journal reported. Several are spread across different parts of the metro area. Our development coverage tracks other projects in the region.

• Henderson: PulteGroup recently opened a master-planned community covering more than 1,100 acres on a cleaned-up former manganese mining site.
• Downtown Las Vegas: Lennar Corp. broke ground on a roughly 70-acre community with plans for more than 1,000 homes, spanning the former Grant Sawyer state office building site and the Cashman Center complex across the street.
• North Las Vegas: KB Home opened Sandstone, its largest new Southern Nevada community in a decade, slated for more than 1,500 homes on nearly 300 acres.
• Upper northwest valley: Olympia Companies and Bruin Capital Partners bought around 940 acres for $94 million for a master-planned community calling for upwards of 6,000 homes.

In Summerlin, property records show Howard Hughes Holdings has sold land to homebuilders this year for $1.7 million an acre or more, the Review-Journal reported. That is well above Southern Nevada's average last year of roughly $954,200 an acre, as tracked by Home Builders Research.

What to watch next

• Demolition of the Cashman Center complex, which the Review-Journal described as soon to be torn down for Lennar's downtown community.
• Buildout of KB Home's Sandstone in North Las Vegas, slated to include more than 1,500 homes.
• Plans for the Olympia Companies and Bruin Capital Partners community in the upper northwest valley, which calls for upwards of 6,000 homes.