Las Vegas homebuilders’ sales hit lowest total of year in May

Las Vegas homebuilders logged the lowest sales activity of the year in May amid the normally busy spring buying season, a new report shows.

Builders landed 642 net home sales — newly signed sales contracts minus cancellations — in Southern Nevada last month. This marked the lowest monthly total so far in 2026 and was down 28 percent from May of last year, according to Las Vegas-based Home Builders Research.

It also marked a reversal from April, when builders’ increased sales activity that month was a “bright spot, given overall market conditions and sentiment,” Home Builders Research President Andrew Smith previously said.

Amid the sharp drop in sales last month, homebuilders also cut back on construction plans from year-ago levels, pulling 627 new-home permits in May, down 42 percent from the same month last year.

Overall, builders closed 711 home sales in Southern Nevada in May, down 14 percent from the same month in 2025, and booked a median closing price of $518,990, down 2.4 percent year-over-year, Home Builders Research reported.

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.

Southern Nevada is not the only metro area where buyers have been pulling back from home construction sites.

The homebuilding industry nationwide has faced a series of roadblocks, as elevated mortgage rates, affordability challenges, and cautious buyers “continue to weigh on demand for new homes,” said Bill Owens, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders, in a recent news release.

Builders are offering sales incentives and cutting prices, “but difficult market conditions are still limiting sustained momentum for new construction,” he said.

Nationally, builder confidence in the market for new single-family houses has now stayed below a certain level for 14 consecutive months, a streak not seen since 2011-2012, during the U.S. foreclosure crisis, the association reported last week.

Locally, builders closed 3,270 home sales this year through May, down 24 percent from the same five-month stretch last year, according to Home Builders Research.