Market Updates - Part 1

Capella at Orchard Hills has officially begun sales of multiple homes in the low $1.2 millions. Some prices are less than Strada Plan 3's (not 3X's), currently for sale, and barely above the Plan 2's price, but the TUSD stigma lasts...

This should put sales pressure on OH-1N2. La Vita is nearly done with standard home sales. Of the final two homes available, one is a Plan 1 at $1.5 million which should be considered. It is not next to the toll road, but has no view (which is O.K. considering the $250,000 premium that would have been stacked onto the original price). All options except flooring are included. The other is a $2.2 million view-oriented Plan 2. Although the execution is nice, the price is ridiculous considering comparable Plan 4's selling for $500,000 less in the past.

The Capri Collection at Hidden Canyon has terminated sales of Abruzzo due to the downstairs bedroom and is selling strongly. Only 4 homes are left on Orchid Terrace, and there are a few homes on Aster Mesa before they start selling on Iron Gate, which is the most undesirable part of the community. The Marbella Collection has finally sold the T-intersection lot on Headlands and Scenic Crest. However, they still have 3 homes available on Heather Mist. One reason, probably, why sales are slow is that the street itself is pretty average.

I visited Greenwood at Tustin Legacy at nighttime recently, and it was pretty impressive. It seems a little isolated due to it being the first in a series of developments, but I actually preferred it over the Beacon Park layout. If I had to rank the three (I visited all of them), they would be from best to worst: Pavilion Park, Greenwood, Beacon Park. While your opinions might differ from mine's, Pavilion Park and Playa Vista each achieved an extreme level of authenticity: one for American Heritage architecture, another for Modern architecture. Speaking of which... Jewel sales have been delayed indefinitely due to something not to be disclosed...

I also visited Playa Vista twice, one during Phase 2A sales, and now during Phase 2B sales. The layout inside the community is appealing. It's dense, so if you don't like it, this is not your place. We drove down Millenium Drive bisecting the Runway Apartments and saw the new park. It was a bit of a disappointment... I expected something more modern. Most of the shops on the Runway are still not open, so it might feel anything but vibrant, but hopefully that will change soon... We passed by Phase 2A and the Resort again, and proceeded to the Concert Park loop. It achieved a small town aesthetic, alright. The future Seabluff Flats may actually be in a nice location, but there's the less modern stuff and Mello-Roos to consider...

The homes nearest Bluff Creek tend to be larger than those bordering Jefferson, especially in Phase 1. If you don't enter the community, one might even think, from the Jefferson viewpoint, that Playa Vista has no detached homes. 14 Future Jewel homes will be built along Bluff Creek in Phase 1 (where the Brookfield Design Studio is currently located). Thus, there will be a total of 28 Jewel units (cough, cough, they are still detached condominiums even though they are nearly 5000 square feet). In Phase 2, however, larger homes are located in the inner community. I appreciate both layouts, in that designers considered traffic on Bluff Creek for Phase 2. Instead, they put the moderately-priced detached condominiums along Bluff Creek. This is the exact opposite of Pavilion and Beacon Parks, where the smallest homes are located in the center of the community, the moderate homes are placed along the west side, and the larger homes are placed along the east side, closer to open spaces or parkland. Of course, this scenario will reverse with Neighborhood 4, where the largest homes are placed farthest away from the cemetery (makes more sense than following the tradition). On a side note, Pavilion and Beacon Parks were named after main arterial streets in the community. Does that mean that Neighborhood 1-Mid might be named Terrapin or Magnet Park (more likely the latter), while Neighborhood 4 might be named Character or Episode Park (most likely neither, so I think it will likely be Cadence, Smallwheel, Cultivate, or Pusan Park). :) Going back to Playa Vista layouts, it is debatable whether hillside views from Cleo and Mason is more important than proximity to the Campus with Skylar, but homes are appreciating pretty well close to the Campus, so my stance has slightly shifted ($2,200,000 for a flat in a 4-story building on the 2nd story is pretty epic in SoCal). Going back to naming, Mason will probably be on the side closer to Woodson, while Cleo will probably be on the side closer to Jewel, because Phase 2A was characterized by masculine names for the developments, with the exception of Camden and Skylar, while feminine names dominate Phase 2B). Further, Cleo will be similar to Skylar, while Mason will be similar to Camden, so more expensive homes will probably border the pricey Jewel units...

To be continued...