▶ TOWN HOME

existing town homes sold in August was $165,000.

The percentage of new town home closings might have been higher except for the proposed legislation in the Nevada Legislature this year that would have repealed the 2015 law, according to Home Builders Research President Andrew Smith. The final bill that was passed and signed into law by Gov. Steve Sisolak is expected to increase costs but not slow town home development.

“I would have thought it would have been a little bit higher a year ago,” Smith said, pointing to the scare builders felt over proposed construction defect legislation. “Nine months ago I was writing that I wouldn’t be surprised to see it go over 20 percent. Some builders were in a wait-and-see mode, so it’s possible it might pick up again going into spring next year.”

That will depend on what happens with single-family home prices and how much they increase, Smith said. They’ve plateaued recently, and if that continues there won’t be as many attached products. In 2017 and 2018, new-home prices rose more than 15 percent compared with less than 5 percent this year.

“Affordability is No. 1, and if builders can’t build a detached home and make the profit that they want, then

they will go to attached,” Smith said.

Smith said that nothing epitomizes the trend of what’s happening in the marketplace than what Richmond American Homes has done, Touchstone Living is planning for the first time, and Lennar and other builders continue to do.

Richmond launched its first town home development, Duetto, in Cadence in Henderson and then announced it’s doing a second phase after that sold out. The builder also said it’s planning a similar town home development in Summerlin.

Steve Corbett, vice president of sales for Richmond American, said he expects the trend to continue because of the economics of what builders are paying for land.

“Everyone that’s sold attached products has had a reasonable amount of success,” Corbett said. “It’s across the board in the north, northwest, Henderson and Summerlin, so geographically it appeals to everybody. I think it will be a part of the builder’s business plan going forward, and part of it depends on the land.”

Smith said one surprise is that Touchstone Living announced its first town home condominium project, Mosaic, which will be off St. Rose Parkway in Henderson east of Las Vegas Boulevard.

“Touchstone has been mostly larger homes of $700,000 and up,” Smith said. “That’s a change.”

Lennar, which has four town home

communities in the Top 10 of closings in the region as tracked by Home Builders Research through August, plans a project on Las Vegas Boulevard South called Altair and another in southeast Henderson, Smith said.

Top sellers

■ KB Home’s project in Henderson, Groves at Inspirada, is the top seller this year, according to Home Builders Research. It had 99 closings through August.

■ That project was followed by Beazer Homes with 86 closings at the Cliffs at Dover in the northeast valley near Nellis Air Force Base.

■ Lennar was third with 74 closings at its project The Hudson in North Las Vegas.

■ DR Horton was fourth with Mesa Verde in North Las Vegas with 52 closings.

■ Shea Homes’ Trilogy active-adult community in Summerlin with 48 closings came in fifth.

The rest of the Top 10 featured Lennar with Madori Vistas in the southwest valley with 46 closings; Lennar’s Santa Rosa in Summerlin with 44 closings; DR Horton with Bilbray Meadows in Laughlin with 43 closings; KB Home with Autumn Winds in the south valley with 41 closings;

and Lennar with Watermarke in Mountain’s Edge with 36 closings.

Uri Vaknin, a partner with KRE Capital, which co-owns three condo towers, cited the projects of KB Home and Beazer as significant. Town homes have never had an impact on the Las Vegas condo market, but condo sales are down this year, and buyers are gravitating to the town homes with amenities and value, he said.

“The Cliffs at Dover start at $155,000, and with the Inspirada ones by KB Home (in the $230,000s) you can sell that type of product all daylong even through a recession,” Vankin said.

“Once you get over $400,000, sales slow down,” Vaknin said. “And there’s been so many town homes built but no high-rise condos since 2008. There’s been a shift in the marketplace to town homes by homebuilders.”

That shift is evident with even more town homes coming online, part of a national trend.

Edward Homes is obtaining permits for a town home development at 10544 W. Centennial Parkway, Brownstones at Providence, which is the final new-home community in the master plan.

Five of the 30 town homes have been reserved with those prices starting in the upper $200,000s, but most are more than $300,000, said Brian Krueger, senior vice president of Strategic Services with Coldwell Banker Premier Realty and broker for Edward Homes. Construction will start in November, and the first two buildings will be done in the spring.

Edward plans a 60-town-home development in the southwest near the Grand Canyon Shopping Center. Construction is expected to start in the first quarter of 2020. Prices will start in the $320,000s. No name has been selected. The builder is looking to acquire more land in the southwest for a 50-town-home project.