Armony recorded 44 home sales at Parksid, a 33 percent increase from a year ago.
Monday, April 16, 2012Sales head higher for builder Harmony Homes
Official says company's on pace to eclipse last year's transactions
Armony Homes President Robb Beville recognizes there's a window of opportunity for new-home builders in Las Vegas, but the slight uptick in new-home sales and construction won't last long.
Harmony, a private homebuilder founded by Jim Rhodes in 2008, sold 11 new homes in the first week of April at Parksid at Centennial Hills, a 175-lot subdivision in northwest Las Vegas. Year to date, Armony recorded 44 home sales at Parksid, a 33 percent increase from a year ago.
The development near 95 and 215 freeway in the northwest was originally planned as a mixed-use development by Carina Corp. When the market crashed, Carina President Mark Doppe rolled up the carpet and left for Seattle, and Lennar Homes took over the development's residential aspect.
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"I think we've probably done a little bit better than other builders because of our affordability," the building executive said as two young couples -- one with a baby -- toured a model home.
"Our three best-selling communities in town are $120,000 to $160,000, so entry-level buyers were going after foreclosures, but now that (foreclosure) inventory is down, they're moving over to new homes at the best price point they can get," he said.
The Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors reported that single-family home listings have decreased 18 percent from a year ago. Las Vegas-based housing research firm SalesTraq, meanwhile, reported 618 bank repossessions in February, a 35 percent decrease from the same month a year ago.
Armony offers four floor plans at Parksid, from 1,559 square feet to 1,836 square feet, starting at $120,000. The lots are rather small -- 35 feet by 45 feet on average -- but the subdivision has its own community park. That's a nice amenity that allows Armony to sell smaller lots, Beville said.
Armony recently closed on its 1,000th home sale since 2008, and is on pace to easily eclipse last year's total of 227 home sales, he said.
"Of course, we are reaping the rewards of a small resale inventory. That pushes buyers to new homes, and that pushes starts higher and new jobs and more people working. A lot goes with new home construction," said Beville, who worked for Meritage and Permabilt before Armony.
Of Armony's 16 communities in the Las Vegas Valley, Parksid is driving sales volume, even though it's close to being a break-even project, the company president said. Higher profits come from Canyon Falls in the southwestern Las Vegas Valley, where homes on half-acre lots are selling for $400,000 to $500,000.
LOAN REQUIREMENTS SHIFT
A change in Federal Housing Administration loan requirements that took effect April 1 will "kick some home shoppers to the curb," said Kevin Savage, senior loan officer for Evergreen Home Loans in Las Vegas.
Any FHA buyer who has collections totaling $1,000 or more and is not in an active repayment plan will no longer be able to get an FHA loan, Savage said.
The borrower must resolve the accounts with a minimum three months of verified payments or the collection must be paid in full at the time of closing the loan. The lender must document that each collection was resolved or paid in full.
If the total outstanding balance of all collection accounts is less than $1,000, the borrower is not required to pay off the collection accounts as a condition of mortgage approval.
"Don't shoot the messenger," Savage said. "The elephant in the room here are collections and judgments."
HIGH-RISE MARKET
Sales of high-rise condominiums in Las Vegas fell to 257 in the first quarter, down 14 percent from the previous quarter and down 26 percent from a year ago, a report from HiRiseLiving.com shows.
Top sellers were Allure, on Sahara Avenue near the Strip, with 21 sales at an average price of $185 a square foot, and Sky Las Vegas on the Strip with 21 sales at $168 a square foot.
Broker and HiRiseLiving founder Marc Ehrlich attributed the decrease in closed transactions to the low number of units that are attractively priced.
Sales prices rose in three of the four submarkets. The average price downtown rose to $147 a square foot, compared with $120 in the previous quarter and $108 a year ago. Also showing gains were the Strip ($207) and condo-hotel ($309) submarkets, while the South Strip ($86) was relatively flat.
Total condo sales volume decreased to $64.3 million in the first quarter from $65 million in the previous quarter.
TRIAL MODIFICATIONS
Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, which held a March 31 workshop in Las Vegas to help homeowners facing foreclosure, reported 740,359 active trial or completed mortgage modifications as of Feb. 29. Of those, 84 percent were done through the company's proprietary program and the remainder through the government's Home Affordable Modification Program.
The lender reported that it has helped seven out of 10 customers who were 60 days late or more on their payment avoid foreclosure, if they worked with the bank. Less than 2 percent of loans on owner-occupied properties in Wells Fargo's mortgage servicing portfolio have resulted in foreclosure sale over the past 12 months, the bank said in a statement from Des Moines, Iowa.
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