Have foreclosures and short-sales affected the quality of NEW homes?

Richard, this is so true!  The builder here who would only do the $800k homes has a small development going in the under $400k range...finally realizing after 3 years this is the way to go..

Richard....if our builders downgraded to that extent, the home wouldn't sell.... the same holds true with a rehab.... people here expect more... builders here need to make sure they offer everything that others are offering and then trump that.

Everyone is trying to get a deal... on houses, airline tickets, food, college, anything that requires open up the wallet wide and say "Ahhh". On line information is sometimes enough to make them mob like dangerous so being the local REALTOR that educates, guides is more critical than ever. Has to be at least one adult in the room not over dosed with sugar from all the short sale, repo, foreclosure talk that can make expectations across the housing board out of whack!

Richard~~ You are lucky that the buyers are ready to settle for less of a home with new construction. In my territory they still want a new home, and put everything in it and a lower price. THe builders are certainly giving a completed home that has granite, hardwood, stainless and other options that were once upgrades. Profit margin here is low for the builders that are still going forward and the buyers are getting a sweet deal these days. They do ask for everything. THe difference in what they buy is that the homes are smaller. I'm hoping that the McMansions are a thing of the past!

Richard,

Prices here haven't subsided much because the price of the land is still so high. The size of the houses are smaller to keep buyers within a reasonable budget though.

Rich

Richard, We are seeing some amazing pricing on new homes in Buckhead and they are flying out the door. True, there are a lot of bells and whistles that have moved off the necessity list. All the best, Michelle

I think you are on to something Richard. Simpler is better but we have to experience complex before we realize it!

Yeah, I think everyone has certainly been babied...you watch HGTV (sigh) and see first time home buyers expecting granite, hwfs, etc..

Builders in my area are building smaller homes, but the buyer still demands and gets the amenities...Tile baths, granite courter tops etc.  Buyers will forgo square footage.

Not many spec homes being built.   The last one I saw was just that, cheap materials.  Trying to keep the price down so that it will appraise out.

Our area is not seeing a huge amount of construction but builders are covering the bases from standard to all the bells and whistles.