Antelope Valley's New Home Market
Ever so slowly, and with no fanfare, the new home market is coming back to life. We now have 4 builders selling new homes in the Antelope Valley.
Why have home buyers come to the AV since the 1970’s?
Here is a home emailed to me from a broker in the Santa Clarita market, just 40 minutes away.
1665 sq feet
3 BR, 2 bath
2 car garage
built in 2002
Offered at $445,000
The above home, in either Palmdale or Lancaster, right now, could be purchased in the area of $170,000.
Or what could one buy in the AV market for $445,000?
I took these 3 homes out of our MLS. Each one is $430,000.
4br, 4 bath, 3,780 sq feet, on ½ acre
4br, 3 bath, 4,300 sq feet, on 1 acre
3br, 2 bath, 2,852 sq feet, on 1.88 acre
In the AV the home buyer gets the same home for 66% less than in Santa Clarita OR, a house
twice the size, on acreage, for the same money as a 1600 sq ft production home in Santa Clarita.
KB Homes
Copper Moon, 60th St West & Ave J
only 11 home sites available
Gibraltar, 17th St West & Lancaster Blvd
a 42 lot neighborhood
2,360 to over 3,000 square feet
Dorado Vista, 30th St East & Ave J-4
3 to 6 bedrooms
2 to 3 bathrooms
1,773 to 2,530 square feet
solar system included
Dorado Skies, 37th St East & Ave J
4 to 6 bedrooms
2 to 3 bathrooms
2,359 to 3,201 square feet
2 car garages
1.8kw solar system included, can be upgraded
buyer can choose location, floor plan, and other options
O’ Bel Sol, 25th St East & K-4
10,000 square foot lots, all have 2 car garages
1988 sf, 4br / 2 bath, flex space, from $222,990
2548 sf, 4-5 br, 2-3 bath, den, from $237,990
2877 sf, 4 br, 2 - 2.5 bath, fam room, din area, $247,990
3027 sf, 4-5 br, 2-3 bath, den, fam rm, formal liv rm, din area $251,990
In September, KB Homes has also started to once again advertise their various
tracts in the Sunday Antelope Valley Press, something not done for years.
Harris Homes
Windsor Hills, 23rd East, south of Ave S
- all single story plans
- 1710 to 2121 square feet
- 4 bedrooms and 2 bath
- energy efficient
- concrete tile roofs
- stone décor trim elevations (some models)
- upgraded cabinets
- upgraded flooring
- blinds for windows throughout
- Starting at $222,000
Harris Homes has also a sign up on 60th St West & Ave J-8 advertising a new
housing tract coming soon.
Pacific Communities
This Newport Beach based builder is a long time builder of homes in the AV, and
has two west Lancaster projects on going.
Pacific Tapestry, 45th St West & Ave J-8
- early California architecture
- 1 & 2 story floor plans
- 1,838 sf to 4,811 sq feet
- 3 to 8 bedrooms
- starting in the $200,000’s
Pacific Northstar, 45th St West & Ave J-8
- distinctive exteriors
- 1,548 sq ft to 2,735 sq feet
- 1 & 2 story floor plans
- 3 to 5 bedroom options
- customizing options available
- pricing in the $200,000’s
In addition to the above tracts, Pacific Communities has plans for two more tracts
in the same west Lancaster area: Pacific Jasmine and Pacific Larkspur.
Hovnanian Homes
Hovnanian in the last housing cycle of 2004-2007 developed a gated community at
90W & Ave I, called Westview. 12 homes were finished, or nearly finished, and
have been sitting unsold since. Hovnanian has decided to put 3 of these empty homes
up for sale to test market demand. After selling these 12 homes, Hovnanian will then
make a decision on whether or not to build more homes on the remaining vacant lots.
Antelope Valley Building Permit History
Source of data: Antelope Valley Building Industry Assoc.
bold red = housing boom years
1987- 5,948
1988- 6,750
1989- 12,384
1990- 2,020
1991- 2,124
1992- 2,764
1993- 1,348
1994- 1,115
1995- 861
1996- 900
1997- 965
1998- 861
1999- 1,442
2000- 1,129
2001- 1,712
2002- 1,588
2003- 2,225
2004- 3,985
2005- 5,076
2006- 3,565
2007- 2,194
2008- 1,019
2009- 565
2010- 528
2011- 292
2012- 250
2013- 86 (through 6-30-13)
Of the 86 building permits issued in the first half of 2013, all 86 were issued in
Lancaster, none in Palmdale. The reason for the imbalance? Simple, there are no finished lots
in Palmdale, sitting ready, owned by banks, to sell to builders. KB Homes, who is building in
Lancaster, is only doing so because they were able to pick up completed finished lots from the
banks in 2009. Being able to do so saved the builder $70k to $80k per finished lot, and made
building a home profitable. As I have been saying over the past several months, in early to mid
2014, the supply of finished lots will run out. At that point, the home builders have two options:
push and grade dirt to build, or sit and wait. What happens at this point will be the real “tell” as
to the immediate future of the new home market in the Antelope Valley. At the rate the AV
foreclosures are being bought up, they too may be near historically normal levels at about the same
time the need for lots will arise. I can tell you from experience, that depressed markets create
pent up demand.
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