Las Vegas-based builder Kavison Homes has struck up a joint-venture with mortgage lender New American Funding on a new luxury community in Downtown Las Vegas, The Pines in John South Park.
The Pines is the brainchild of Kavison Homes owner Todd Stratton, who said homes in the first phase of the community will cost an average of $605,000.
“Kavison Homes is excited about this unique opportunity to be the first new construction in the John S Park area in 35-plus years,” said Stratton. “Our floor plans and elevations will uniquely feature a modern and sleek look but will still maintain a similar feel to what was built in the 1960s.”
New American Funding’s Chris Garza, senior vice president of the mid-Pacific region, said Kavison Home’s new neighborhood will serve a “niche area” in the Southern Nevada market.
“I have had a long and productive relationship with Todd Stratton and Kavison Homes, and as a long-term resident of the area, I’m well aware of Todd’s proud history of building in the valley,” Garza said.
New American Funding, an independent mortgage lender with a servicing portfolio of more than 192,000 loans for approximately $49.9 billion, serves customers in Henderson, which sits south of Las Vegas, and in the greater Las Vegas area. Its sister business, Broker Solutions, Inc., originated roughly 104,000 in loans in 2020, worth $30.38 billion, according to HMDA data.
Las Vegas — and Nevada as a whole — has become a popular moving destination during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. In response to the hot housing market, April of 2020 saw a 10.6% increase in home prices in the Las Vegas area of Southern Highlands, a 15% price increase on condominiums in Washoe County, and a 4.1% growth in single-family homes in the city of Mesquite. Nevada’s census data projects a 1.51% increase in population between 2020 and 2025, as well as a 1.46% increase in median household income over the same time period
In addition to the lures of the Strip, Nevada offers plenty of outdoor activities such as hiking and camping. The state’s job market is up-and-coming, with a brand-new UnitedHealth cancer treatment center in the city, a myriad of casinos and restaurants, Reno’s AMERCO and Renown Health corporations, and government offices in Carson City. And, of course, the tech-giant Zappos calls Las Vegas home.
Lenders partnering with homebuilders is popular in the industry. California-based loanDepot announced in April a joint-venture partnership with LGI Homes, called LGI Mortgage Solutions. It also joined with Schell Brothers, a homebuilder based in Delaware, in March. In 2019, NewRez and Shelter Mortgage announced together two new lending partnerships, one with Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby’s International Realty and one with Cleveland’s Russell Real Estate Services.