Las Vegas homebuilders reached the halfway point of 2026 with a sharp drop in sales and construction plans from a year earlier amid a pullback in buyers nationwide.
Builders landed 4,284 net home sales – newly signed sales contracts minus cancellations – this year through June in Southern Nevada, down 15 percent from the same six-month period last year, according to a report from Las Vegas-based Home Builders Research.
The firm also reported that builders pulled 4,156 new-home permits during the first half of the year, down 25 percent from the same stretch in 2025.
Overall, builders closed 4,044 home sales this year through June, down 22 percent from the same period last year.
The bulk of the market comprises single-family homes, and after a buyer signs a sales contract with a builder, it can take several months before construction of the house is finished and the sale closes.
The median closing price in June among all newly built homes was $525,000, up 0.3 percent, or basically flat, from a year earlier, Home Builders Research reported.
Would-be buyers have been shying away from home construction sites across the country, as elevated borrowing costs and high home prices have made it difficult for many people to afford a purchase.
Plus, higher gas prices and increased inflation have squeezed personal finances this year, and the job market hasn’t been easy, with many applicants finding it maddeningly difficult to get a new job, let alone a response from employers.
Nationwide, the pace of sales in May for new houses fell 7.3 percent from April and 6.8 percent year-over-year, according to federal officials.
For those who did buy a house, the median sales price across the U.S. in May was $424,900, up 2 percent month-to-month and virtually unchanged from a year earlier.
“Many potential buyers remain on the sidelines as they wait for lower mortgage rates, more certainty on inflation and a clearer economic outlook,” Bill Owens, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders, said in a recent news release.
He said last month that builders were offering sales incentives and cutting prices, but “difficult market conditions” were still “limiting sustained momentum for new construction.”
Locally, homebuilders landed 573 net sales in June. This was the lowest monthly tally of the year so far and down 11 percent from June 2025, Home Builders Research reported.
Builders also closed 774 sales last month, down 12 percent year-over-year, and pulled 611 permits, down 1.1 percent.
Contact Eli Segall at esegall@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0342.
