RARE • Somedevelopers offeringsmallerhomes at lower cost

ChulaVista’s masterplan community of OtayRanch, ValleyCenter’s Park Circle community, Fallbrookand 3RootsinMira Mesa. Housing expertssaida large reasonthere aren’t more single-familyhome projectsinSanDiego County this year orinthe near future,isstate and community planners are favoringdenser development near transit Thatmeans large single-familyprojects in ruralSanDiego— already likely to be voted down, not approvedor stoppedbylegal action couldbe a thing of thepast.

Itisn’talldoomand gloomforhomeshoppers becausemanydevelopers have shiftedinto smaller home productsthatarestill detachedbut are lesspricey than some condos Inaddition toWhitmore theTrailsideprojectin Valley Center hashomesaround2,000 square feetthatstart inthe $630,000 range,andthe CrestlineprojectinSpring

Valleyhashomes 1,700 square feet to 1,800square feetthatstart inthemid$600,000s.

“Itis a goodthing anda trendthathas to continue,” said Gary London, a San Diego housinganalyst.“It’s landuseefficiency Smaller homes,smallerlotsand smallerpricesall gotogether.”

Thetrendofsmallersingle-familyhomesisnot yet at thesamelevel as Japanese “pencilstyle”homesthat dominateTokyosuburbs,but itis a change forthe region— especiallyafter manyofthe large SanDiego County projectsthatcameoutafter the GreatRecession. For example,oneofthe biggestprojectsinthelastthreeyearshas been the SterlingHeights community northofBlack MountainRanch.Thehomes range from4,936 square feet to6,540square feet.Theprojectisnow soldoutbuthomes were selling forasmuch as $3.4 millionin March 2021.

Londonsaidit’s true manySanDiego homes were larger becausethat’s what local governingbodies were approving,butit’s notlike developers hadmuch motivation to pushbackon plans.

“Theycanmake asmuch money,ifnotmore,building the McMansionandselling to onepersonvs. 10 people,” hesaid.

Kerry Garza,founder andpresident ofPark Circle master developer TouchstoneCommunities,saidthe size ofitsnew Valley Center homes were basedonhow practicalthey were withlocalplans.SanDiego County plannershave been pushing formore than a decade for denservillages,which ishow thedevelopment was approvedunderits general plan.But,hesaidhe doubtedthe ValleyCenter community would approve of a very dense townhouse projectsothatiswhythey wentforsmaller detached houses Garza saidthe result was creating a mix ofhomesthat are inhighdemand.

“Theyare sellinglike hot cakes,” hesaid.

ParkCircle:Largeyards andopenspace

ValleyCenterisabout to geta lotbusier

ThePark Circlemaster plan,with 632 homes, started constructionin summer2019 inunincorporatedSanDiego County and hasbeen a quicksellforall thedevelopersinvolved.Itis about20miles eastofthe coastandnorthofEscondido,makinghomebuyers more likely to bethosewho work in North County. There are severaldevelopers workinginthe 186-acre Park Circle,includingKB Home,BeazerHomes, Meritage Homes,SheaHomes andRichmondAmerican Homes. TouchstoneCommunitiessaidmore than 7,000 peoplesigneduponaninterestlistin early2021 whenthe firstsalesstarted.

Oneoftheprojectsis Sundance which features 2,061-square-foot to 2,620square-foothomesthat start at$807,990. Itisoneof thepricierprojectsinthedevelopment,butstilllessthan aresale detachedhomein areascloser to downtown.

“Thebiggest attractionis itisonlysinglestory, said DanielLoth,vicepresident ofsalesandmarketing.

Unlike many of the smallerhomeprojectsinthe county thatmaximize space, Touchstone’s effort to not get in a battlewiththe ValleyCenter community witha denserprojectmeans amuch bigger lotat Sundance. Not onlydobuyers have large frontandbackyards,they get two-car ga- rages with anoptionfora three-car garage. Park Circle couldhave included 700 more homes, basedonwhat was approved forthemasterdeveloper It is a sharp contrast to Chula Vista’s OtayRanch master planthathasfavored denser development with townhouses,apartmentsand,in somecases,smallerhomes.

Like allnew homesbuiltin Californiathis year housesin Park Circle comewith solar panels.Thelaw requiringsolar tookeffectin2020 but projectsthatstarted before that were exempt.Thisisthe firstyearinSanDiegoCounty where themajority ofnew homes comewithsolar.

Park Circle residentswill allbe allowed to use a large park, community center, gym,poolandhot tub in the center of thedevelopment.

About 250 homeshave beensoldinPark Circle, TouchstoneCommunities said.Ofthose, 100 homesare occupiedwhilethe restare stillunder construction.

Lothsaidthey expected most of thebuyers to come from North County, butthe desire to live inmore rural, openareasduringCOVID-19 seems to have motivated shoppers.Hesaidtheyhave seenbuyers fromSouth County and even outside of SanDiego.

Côta Vera:Amasterplan withinamasterplan Thecenter of new home constructionforthenextfew yearswilllikelybetheCôta VeraprojectinChulaVista. Ithasspacefor2,300housingunitsspreadout among townhouses,apartments, subsidized housing, condos andsingle-familyhomes.

Thesizeoftheprojectis even more intensewhen considering itispart ofthe OtayRanch masterplan (nearly thesizeofSan Francisco)thatwillinclude around 18,000homesat final buildout.Côta Verais a sort ofmasterplanwithin a master planthathasits own blueprintandamenities separate fromOtayRanch. Itislocatedattheendof La MediaRoadinanundevelopedareaaround Rock Mountain westofstate

THEARAMCOREPORT

Route 125.

The400-acre Côta Vera willincludetrails,anurban core with retail,pool,an MTSrapid bustransitstop, gas station, fire station park and elementary school.Luxury gym LifetimeFitness recentlysigned a lease fora new structure inthemaster plan’s urban core

Like Park Circle,Côta Verahas a master developer —HomeFedCorp. that sells plots to developers who have their own home types. Lennar is responsibleforthe Whitmore project,which maximizesspacewithsmall yards, shared drivewaysand built-upwith two stories (unlike spreadoutsinglefamily homesinSundance). Inaddition toWhitmore, there are two othersinglefamily homeprojectsopeninginCôta Verathis year. Lucca, fromSheaHomes, features2,535-square-foot to 2,830-square-footsinglefamily homesthatstart at $790,000 Itsother project, Savona,ismuch larger: 3,157 square feet to 3,577 square feet.Itisstillinitsearly stages andthepricehasnot yet been released.

Buyingin Whitmore mightbedifferentthanwhat new homeshoppersare

Americansare paying morefor home repairs

ByMehranAram,RealEstateandMortgageAnalyst

You’veaccomplished theAmericanDream: you’re ahomeowner. Whilethismajor achievementisworthy ofcelebration,new homeownersshould alsobemindfulthat savingforthedown paymentwasonlythe beginning.Itcosts moneytomaintaina homeandaccordingto recentreports,thatcost isincreasing.

Asurveyfromhome repairsite,Angi,of1,000 homeownersintheU.S., itshowsthatAmericans arepayingmorefor homemaintenancecosts inthelastyear.More than40percentofthese repairsarefromordinary wearandtearandpartof thenormalcostofbeing ahomeowner. used to Lennarsaiditis“entertaining offers inthe high $600,000s”— meaningpropertieswilllikely goto the highestbidder AlmostallSanDiego developmentshave setprices fornew homes, makingit rare that a buyer paidmore fora house thananeighbor.

Onaverage, Americansshellout over$3,000eachyear inhomemaintenance. Appliancerepairsand newroofsareamong themostcommonand costlyexpenses.Whileit maynotcoverallcosts, homewarrantiesare oftenrecommendedby realestateexpertsto minimizethesecosts.

Today,conforming no-point30-yearfixed mortgageratesare averaging3.0percent and15-yearratesare near2.25percent.

For instance, when you goto othernew home communitiesinOtayRanch, a salespersonhands youa printout withthe costforitshome types Then, you get ona waiting list and,althoughit differs fromdeveloper to de- veloper it typicallyinvolves alottery if demandis too high. There mightbe a workaroundforpotential buyers at Whitmore.Inabout two monthsthe firsthomesare set to closeandbuyerswill be able to search soldhome prices on websiteslike Redfinor Zillow, and geta better ideaofwhat to offer Lennar declined to commentonwhyithadinstituted an offerprogramat Whitmore.Italsohasother new homeprojectsacross Californiathatuseoffersystems.

Mark Goldman, a realestate analystwithC2FinancialCorp.,saidLennarhad created a “silentauction” for thehomesbutitmade sense in the hot market Hesaid costsofmaterials keep going up, and withsofew homes forsale,homeprices keep increasing.Goldman relatedit to the resalemarket where homesare goingforsomuch overaskingpotentialbuyers are often left stunned.

“Nobody knowstheprice (thehome will go for) not even thebuilder,”hesaid. phillip.molnar@ sduniontribune.com Twitter:@phillipmolnar

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