Homebuilders are reporting brisk sales at local developments as the national housing market continues to set new records.
U.S. Housing Markets, a Detroit housing survey company, said the first quarter of 2000 single-family building permits nationwide set a record. That has occurred in six of the last seven quarters, the company reported.
However, building permits in the western United States were down 3 percent for the region, due mainly to slowdowns in Portland, Ore., and Phoenix.
In Alpine, more than half of the houses in Sun Crest by Reynolds Communities have been sold before the start of construction, said Mike Reynolds, president of the El Cajon-based construction company.
As of this past week, the foundations have been poured and framing started at the development of 14 hillside houses. The single-story houses are on half-acre or larger lots. They have either three or four bedrooms and a den, and range from 2,519 to 2,834 square feet, Reynolds said. The properties are designed in the Monterey, Calif., ranch and Mediterranean architectural styles.
Meanwhile, Continental Homes San Diego officials said the company has sold 168 homes in San Diego and Riverside counties in the first quarter of 2000.
The company sold 81 homes in its 690-acre Rancho Carrillo residential community near Carlsbad in the first quarter, said Greg Hastings, division president.
Guest builders at Rancho Carrillo sold an additional 77 houses, he added.
Kaufman and Broad will celebrate the grand openings of its newest Oceanside communities by giving away two tickets to San Diego Padres games to those who sign up to play the company’s Padres Passport Game. Those grand openings will take place May 20-22 and will also feature free refreshments.
To be eligible to participate in the game, visitors who come to tour the homes must indicate how they learned of the contest to receive a game card. As they walk through the various floor plans at the three developments, they must identify the Kids’ Padres Room at each community on the tour and get their game card stamped, said Donovan Roche, a spokesman for the builder. The communities are Belamar and Pravada in Rancho Del Oro and Emerald Estates in Oceanside. Prices for the homes, which range from 1,563 to 2,392 square feet, start in the low $200,000s, he said.
In San Marcos, nine sales last month preceded the release of a new phase of another nine houses at Ryland Communities’ Monterey Collection at Twin Oaks Valley Ranch, said Marcie Little, marketing director.
“Purchase activity this spring at Twin Oaks Valley Ranch has been the heaviest since the kickoff of sales in late 1998,” Little said. “Both neighborhoods now selling at Twin Oaks , Monterey and Highlands , have been registering brisk home-shopper traffic and strong sales every week.”
