Comments on: West Linn Real Estate Market Activity – September 28-October 4, 2009

By: Bobbi Kelly

Bobbi Kelly — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 17:05:18 +0000

Does anyone have any info or feedback on the Douglas Park homes being built by Icon construction? They recently sold some on Rogue Way. Thanks…

By: David

David — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 05:04:03 +0000

Yes, I can’t wait to see the numbers in the next couple of weeks from Arbor Homes (the ones on meek, epperly). DR Horton competed more directly with Arbor Homes on Meek I think, not with Renaissance. Renaissance is still high end. Very few houses on Coho shows up here on the weekly data. Since they’re in bankruptcy, I guess the bank is giving them a lot of leeway to not cost prices too much. Otherwise they would have had a fire sale there.

That house on 2978 Winkel WAY is a model home. Whoever bought that house got a really good deal. We looked at that house a few months ago. It has a really nice daylight basement. Since it’s a model home the finishes are above average. At $128 a square foot it’s a steal for a brand new home!

-David

By: dj

dj — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 19:01:09 +0000

Hi David, I think Legend gave up that property to the bank, so it is no longer Legend homes anymore. This particular community doesn’t even show up on their website. I think the property has been sold piece-meal to smaller builder to complete existing construction. I don’t think they are breaking ground on anything new, but rather building to order. DR Horton is trying to close up their books for their fiscal year end and they want their West Linn subdivision off the books, hence their willingness to close some deals. Unfortunately the price reductions have also meant that DR Horton has skimped on the finishings. When they first came in, they had model homes asking $600-$700K with really nice finishing touches. The last batch of houses are just your basic average home. I agree that this should put some pressure on Renaissance homes, who have refused to budge on their list prices. What happens on the negotiation table is a different matter, and we’ll see what happens to some of the property when it closes hopefully in the next month. But with so much inventory in the market, and with Renaissance currently in bankruptcy protection, makes you wonder why they aren’t being more aggressive on the pricing to move inventory. One can argue that “Renaissance” commands a premium. I agree that they build very nice homes, but quite frankly in this market even Renaissance is not immune to the current real-estate hangover. They have a property on Evergreen that has been on the market for 3 years waiting for a buyer. Properties developed by Renaissance 4-5 years ago are also currently on the market on par with homes from other builders in the area.

By: Jim

Jim — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 18:01:16 +0000

At Maxfield, the bank was not at all interested in allowing Legend to even finish the homes at mid-construction, let alone build any more. The bank is in posession of those homes.

With DR Horton giving homes away, it is probably best for the neighborhood to just sit and wait until they are done and gone anyway.

By: David

David — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 23:12:11 +0000

DR Horton lowered prices to get a bunch of houses sold because
the 8000 tax credit will expire soon. These brand new houses are going for $140-$150 a square foot. I think that will put pressure on Arbor Cove and Renaissance to lower their prices also.

The Legend homes on the Maxfield PUD (down the street also on Winkel) are finally back on the market I see. They’re priced a little higher than DR Horton though.

The last time I drove through there there were unfinished houses covered with tarp. I wonder if Legend has negotiated some new terms with the bank that owns that subdivision (since Legend filed for bankruptcy). Anybody passed by Winkel lately? Are they building new homes or finishing up the half-baked ones?

-David