Over the summer there have been several builders who have put up a number of inventory homes in communities around Milton and Crabapple. This bullish sign is great to see but are they getting ahead of themselves?
Traton Homes is building in Westminister Place off New Providence Rd. in Milton. This 14 home enclave offers 3-side brick, 5 bedroom homes on 1 acre lots in the high $500′s to high $600′s. Four homes will be ready for move-in in the Sept. / Oct. time frame. They are offering a free membership to Alpharetta Athletic Club.
The Providence Group has 9 standing inventory homes in Crabapple Crossroads ranging from the high $300′s to low $400′s. These 4 and 5 bedroom homes are available now with $7500 in incentives to buyers. With this many homes in standing inventory leading up to the fall / winter season, my thoughts are that discounts and larger incentives are around the corner.
Ashton Woods Homes have begun building in the Oaks on Charlotte Drive ; a 29 lot community in the high $400′s to high $500′s with 4-side brick homes, 3-car garages and 1/2 acre lots still within walking distance to Crabapple. $10k in buyers incentives are available.
John Wieland is defying the market and selling new construction in Braeburn like hotcakes. Not only that, they are getting top dollar with no incentives and little-to-no discounts. Ranging from the mid $500′s to mid $600′s and both slab and basement lots, they are moving these homes at a brisk pace. Of the 52 total lots only 20 lots are still available.
Arcadia Homes in Crabapple Station is also moving some product with two homes under contract and 7 sold earlier this year. There are three more are available from the high $300′s to mid $400′s and come with hefty buyer incentives. They have a 5 bed / 4.5 bath, 3400 sq. ft. home under $400k. Crabapple Station seems to be at a good competitive price point to Braeburn with comparable finishes.
While consumer confidence has dropped recently over the debt ceiling fight and market fluctuations there is clearly still an appetite out there for new construction. Living in walking distance to restaurants and schools is a very desirable lifestyle choice for a segment of the market and the trend to downsize from larger homes is also a factor. Shiny, new and move-in ready is what builders do best and what resales have the hardest time competing with.
That said, despite the rate at which some new construction is selling, there are still good incentives and opportunities for those buyers looking for that type of product and location. I don’t think builders are jumping the gun but meeting what demand is there.
What about Milton Place and Vickery Crest? Both of them appear to building a lot of homes recently and they are both righ inside the city of Milton.
John, that’s true. I didn’t include every new subdivision but Milton Place and Vickery Crest do seem to have some things going on. The same thing in Forsyth County as well, builders are moving forward carefully and home buyers seem to be interested too.
Bob,I have contemplated building in Valmont but I have seen no new movement in the subdivision for more than a year and I think existing homes are largely “leased”. Your thoughts?
Cathy, what you are concerned about is exactly what other buyers get concerned about when looking at a neighborhood that has “stalled”. It’s a catch-22 for the builder. Without activity (sales and construction) buyers get worried. But without buyers, builders hold steady. Eventually the leased homes will get sold and something will happen, it’s hard to say how long that will take. Meanwhile, other builders have begun construction in newer communities which are attracting the buyers. I wish I had a black and white answer for you but I don’t. In all likelihood, you would be fine if you built now, but we can’t know for sure until we see what comes up out of the ground when construction begins.
Bob, FYI, John Wieland just uploaded to FMLS ..lots and floorplans for Vickery! Very exciting!
Bob, we are in the original Crabapple Crossroads community which Williamscraft built and then went “bellyup”. Although we were originally happy about the Providence Group buying up some of the empty lots, most original homeowners are not happy with their end product. We were promised that the houses would be in the same style as ours but they’ve just done a cheaper slapped up version with no real porches or true architectural feeling of our homes. We are very unhappy with their product and are not surprised that they are not selling. They should have held on to their promise and they would be selling like Wieland is next door to us.