Only one local builder won bids on land in the popular southwest valley.

The lack of availability of land for residential development has been, and will continue to be, one of the major challenges facing the housing market in Southern Nevada (see this recently released report on the topic).  Government land auctions are one of the only ways larger parcels of land can become available to builders and developers.  The Clark County Department of Aviation just wrapped up its latest auction of parcels in the southwest portion of the valley.  Roughly 133 of 162 available acres received winning bids.  Pulte Group was the only production home builder to pick up any land during the auction, staking their claim on just under 68 acres for over $50 million. 

The concerning trend of $1 million per acre+ price tags on residential land in come areas (see our Las Vegas Land Report for the specific data) was avoided on the average (Pulte's came out to just under $750,000 per acre), however three of the individual transactions they were the winners on did yield $1 million per acre or more.

Larry Canarelli, founder and former head of American West Homes (which was purchased by Pulte Group in the spring of 2019) is listed on the results as the winner on three parcels or groups of parcels.  Given past behavior there is a chance we will see those parcels eventually sold off to a builder, with Pulte being as likely a target as any.

An LLC associated with custom home builder Jewel Homes came away with roughly four acres very nearby the other parcels on which they have been building for the past few years.

The map below shows the locations of the transactions listed in this article with Pulte in blue, Mr. Canarelli in orange, and Jewel Homes in green.

See the full results of the auction here.