Vegas builders pull fewer permits

Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2003 | 11:07 a.m.

New home permits pulled in the Las Vegas area in August dipped below the 2,000 mark for the first time in five months, according to research firm SalesTraq. Despite the dip, the 1,906 permits pulled exceeded the 1,787 permits pulled in August 2002.

A total of 16,479 home permits have been pulled year to date through August versus 14,327 year-to-date 2002, a 15 percent increase.

Steve Bottfeld, vice president Marketing Solutions, which releases a monthly permit report with SalesTraq, said he suspects that many builders are assessing what type of product to build in Las Vegas as the price of land and homes rises throughout the Las Vegas Valley. As an example, Bottfeld pointed to KB Home, the area's largest builder of detached single-family homes, which will begin building attached for-sale housing by the end of the year.

"A lot of people have stepped back and said 'Do we have the right product now?"' Bottfeld said. "I think people in the business are reassessing the direction they need to go, and it is slowing down some builders' planning."

Bottfeld said the dip in new home permits may also be attributed to possible slower permit processing at the governmental level because of increased demands, and slower production on the part of builders because they are so busy.

New home closings totaled 2,106 in August, compared to 2,065 in July and 1,914 in August 2002, according to SalesTraq.

Existing home closings in August totaled 4,407, slightly less than July's 4,529, but almost 37 percent more than August 2002 when there were 3,225 existing home closings, according to SalesTraq.