190594 Resource 120085 120144 120144 1196091997908 1196093891430 Controlled Lennar Halts Sales of Valencia West Hills Mosaic and Patina Homes in the Santa Clarita, CA area

Production of Lennar's Mosaic and Patina homes in Valencia West Hills put on indefinite hold.

<p>Lennar has announced that it will halt sales and production of the <a title="Mosaic at West Hills Valencia" href="item/177794" target="_blank">Mosaic</a> and <a title="Patina at West Hills Valencia" href="item/178145" target="_blank">Patina</a> homes for an indefinite time period in its&nbsp;Valencia <a title="West Hills Valencia" href="item/157582" target="_blank">West Hills</a> development in Santa Clarita.</p><p><a title="Patina at West Hills Valencia" href="item/178145" target="_blank">Patina</a> homes in adjacent Valencia <a title="Valencia West Creek" href="item/157581" target="_blank">West Creek</a> will continue to be sold and constructed.</p><p>Buyers who had signed purchase agreements with Lennar for the <a title="West Hills Valencia" href="item/157582" target="_blank">West Hills</a> <a title="Mosaic at West Hills Valencia" href="item/177794" target="_blank">Mosaic</a> and <a title="Patina at West Hills Valencia" href="item/178145" target="_blank">Patina</a> homes have apparently had their deposits returned to them. According to a Lennar salesman, the production and sales hold is expected to be for at least six months.</p><p>Many potential&nbsp;buyers were waiting for future phases of the <a title="Mosaic at West Hills Valencia" href="item/177794" target="_blank">Mosaic</a> and <a title="Patina at West Hills Valencia" href="item/178145" target="_blank">Patina</a> homes in Valencia <a title="West Hills Valencia" href="item/157582" target="_blank">West Hills</a> to be released, since the earlier phases had the smallest lots. With the production moratorium for these homes predicted to be at least six months, it's likely that these homebuyers will turn to the resale market instead.</p><p>Townhomes in the Valencia <a title="Valencia West Creek" href="item/157581" target="_blank">West Creek</a> area are continuing to sell, and many have been sold with move-in dates as late as May, 2008. The slowest townhome sales are for the <a title="Artenati at Valencia West Creek" href="item/172154" target="_blank">Artenati</a> homes, which is likely due to their location adjacent to the Albertson's shopping center and and Copper Hill Drive.</p><p>Remaining homes in the Valencia <a title="West Hills Valencia" href="item/157582" target="_blank">West Hills</a> and Valencia <a title="West Creek Valencia" href="item/157581" target="_blank">West Creek</a> developments are being sold at a discount and with many attractive incentives, including significant buy-downs of the buyer's interest rate for qualified buyers.</p><p /><p>If you're thinking of buying new construction, be sure to read our <a title="Tips for Buying New Construction" href="item/159902" target="_blank">Tips for Buying New Construction</a>, and never, never go to a builder's sales office without bringing your Realtor along for your first visit! Santa Clarita Realtor Linda Slocum specializes in new construction, and will help you negotiate the best deals with the builders. Call her at 661.670.0349 or send her an <a title="Email Linda Slocum" href="mailto:Linda@SantaClaritaRealEstateBlog.com" target="_blank">email</a>!</p> 9 application/xml lennar mosaic mosaic west hills new construction new homes patina patina west hills santa clarita valencia west creek valencia west hills Standing inventory homes are being sold with attractive pricing and options at all Lennar new home developments in Valencia. item/188378 Buying new construction isn't as easy as just walking in and plopping down a deposit check. item/159902 false Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 7.0; Windows NT 5.1; .NET CLR 1.0.3705; Media Center PC 3.1) 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 lslocum 76.171.62.15 false true false false true 181698 false false true false false false true 190639 Resource 181698 173239 120144 1196117513517 1196391513494 Controlled Status of Santa Clarita Real Estate Market

What does this say about the overall real estate market in SCV?&nbsp; How much further will prices drop before things stabilize?&nbsp; Is 20% to 40% reasonable?&nbsp; I've noticed a significant increase in short sale and foreclosure listings in SCV, are there more to come? 10 application/xml false Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 7.0; Windows NT 5.1; .NET CLR 1.0.3705; .NET CLR 1.1.4322; Media Center PC 4.0; .NET CLR 2.0.50727) 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 76.169.239.211 false true false false true 191087 Resource 181698 120144 120144 1196392388514 1196392388514 Controlled Status of Santa Clarita Real Estate Market

Does anyone have a Crystal Ball?

<p>It's hard to say exactly where the market is going, but the top economists are not predicting huge market decreases overall. Yes, there are foreclosures and short sales, but a large number (the majority?) are from cash-out refi's and not from so-called&nbsp;&quot;toxic loans&quot;. </p><p>The latest commentary from <a title="DataQuick" href="http://dataquick.com" target="_blank">DataQuick</a> stated that they didn't predict that the foreclosure activity would be enough to bring the whole market down. They're the keepers of the data, and are usually pretty straight-forward and unbiased.</p><p>Case in point: We were preparing to make an offer on a bank-owned property that was listed at $1.1 million, knowing that a very low offer had already been submitted that the lender was considering. The property isn't worth $1.1 million, but that's what the lender (the 2nd mortgage holder who bought out the 1st to try to save themselves from losing everything when the 1st took the home to auction) needs to break even, and that's after they basically made the 3rd and 4th mortgages wave bye-bye without paying them a dime. The lender countered the first buyer's offer at an insane $1.2 million, which is $100,000 above the original asking price.</p><p>Lesson learned: There's a lot of stupidity in this market, and there are a lot of over-financed homes out there that are going into foreclosure. $1.1 million owed AFTER making the 3rd and 4th mortages go away, on a house that's worth closer to $900,000??? Absolute craziness! The lenders jumped aboard and let the prior owners borrow this money though, so they created their own problems. This home may have sold for closer to $1.1 million at the peak of the market, but then you have to take the 3rd and 4th into consideration as well.</p><p>Take a look at the <a title="Santa Clarita Sales Stats October 2007" href="item/191033" target="_blank">October 2007 sales statistics</a> for more info on the current level of activity, including number of homes sold and median price changes.</p> 9 application/xml false Santa Clarita's single family home sales statistics for October 2007 show some new trends. item/191033 Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 7.0; Windows NT 5.1; .NET CLR 1.0.3705; Media Center PC 3.1) 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 lslocum 76.171.62.15 false true false false true 120085 blog blogsite/SantaClaritaRealEstate/web