Mccarran passenger traffic sets record

Over 4.36M travelers used airport in May

May marked the busiest month in Mccarran International Airport’s history with more than 4.36 million airline passengers, topping the record set seven months earlier, the Clark County Aviation Department reported Monday.

The previous single-month record was 4.33 million passengers in October. May also marked the 15th consecutive month of gains for passenger traffic from a year earlier at the nation’s eighth-busiest airport.

“When you look at the dynamic economy, increased spending on travel nationwide and the value of a Las Vegas vacation, then you know that this trend is going to keep on going,” said aviation consultant Mike Boyd, president and CEO of Boyd Group International in Colorado.

“It’s one of the better places to visit in the world because there’s so much to do in Las Vegas,” Boyd said. “People want to visit the Hoover Dam, the Grand Canyon and, of course, the casinos.”

In the first five months of 2018, 20.19 million passengers flew in or out of the Las Vegas airport, a

3.1 percent increase from the same period last year.

If the incremental growth continues, Mccarran could have a second consecutive record-breaking year,

PASSENGERS

in the country, and builders have fetched record dollar amounts and the most sales in a decade.

Last month, builders closed 945 home sales in Clark County, up 18 percent from the same period last year, and pulled 1,091 new-home permits, up 19 percent, Home Builders Research said.

The median sales price of May’s closings was $369,990, up 8 percent year-over-year.

Resale prices are rising about twice

as fast, but the gap between what builders and regular homeowners sell for in Las Vegas remains much wider than the national average.

In Clark County last month, the median sales price of new homes was $110,990 higher than that of previously owned homes, a 43 percent price gap, according to Home Builders Research data.

Nationally last month, the median sales price of new homes was $48,200 higher than resales, an 18 percent price gap, according to National Association of Realtors and U.S. Census Bureau figures.

Meanwhile, in prior reports this

year, Home Builders Research President Andrew Smith and founder Dennis Smith have said “the affordability issue in Las Vegas is more unmistakable” and “there is nothing on the horizon that can improve” it, and it’s “no secret” to any builder in town that there is demand for affordable new homes.

A total of 61 communities have opened so far this year, compared to 82 all last year, according to Home Builders Research.

Contact Eli Segall at esegall@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0342. Follow @eli_segall on Twitter.