IF YOU BUILD IT, WILL THEY COME? : NEW-HOME SALES PLUNGE BARGAINS AVAILABLE CLOSER TO WORKPLACE, REPORT CONCLUDES.

Byline: Jim Skeen Daily News Staff Writer

New tract home sales in the Antelope Valley fell 29.4 percent during the summer compared to the previous three months as competition from such markets as Santa Clarita continued to draw away prospective home buyers, analysts said Tuesday.

A total of 243 new tract homes were sold during June, July and August, down 101 homes from the previous three months and down 70 homes from the same period last year.

It was the Antelope Valley's poorest quarter in sales since the winter of 1993, according to a report from The Meyers Group, a Los Angeles real estate tracking firm.

There have been 587 homes sold through August of this year, down 24 percent compared with the same period last year, the report states.

``Activity in the Antelope Valley remains slow, partially because of the housing affordability in some of the close-in commuter markets,'' the report says. ``With a recovering, yet still depressed, real estate market, areas geographically closer to Los Angeles are more attractive and still relatively attainable for commuters.''

For example, in the Santa Clarita Valley, there were 276 new homes sold during the past three months, compared to the same period last year. Sales have been on the increase in the Santa Clarita Valley for the past 18 months, analysts said.

While new tract home sales were slipping, sales of older homes in the Antelope Valley were up 23 percent through August compared to the same period last year, according to statistics compiled for the Antelope Valley Board of Realtors.

There were 1,974 homes sold through August compared with 1,604 homes during the first eight months last year. The statistics are for homes reported through the Multiple Listing Service and are predominantly resale homes.

The numbers do not reflect sales of most HUD or VA homes, according to Realtor Robert Schaff, who compiles the market report for the newsletter.

``I think people have a sense we are at the bottom of the price range. Interest rates are still good,'' Schaff said. ``People are out there buying houses.''

While the resale market appears to be doing well, the soft new-home market prompted two developers to drop or suspend plans for master-planned communities.

Encino-based Larwin Co. is discarding plans to develop its 667-acre Del Sur Ranch in west Lancaster, while Ritter Ranch announced it is suspending operations on its 7,000-home project west of Palmdale for at least a year.

Lancaster Public Works Director Jeff Long, whose department issues building permits and inspects buildings under construction, said most new-home construction now is filling in subdivisions that were started in the 1980s, rather than pushing new growth into outlying areas.

But he said there appear to be signs that some builders are preparing developments to be ready if local home sales hit an upswing.

``I would characterize it as an ever-so-slight increase, into tending toward getting things moving that haven't been moving,'' Long said.

Developer Gregg Anderson, who created the Rancho Vista planned community in west Palmdale, said he is convinced a housing boom is coming to the Antelope Valley, and will be brought on by an influx of new jobs.

After staying out of home construction for about two years, Anderson has started construction of 41 new homes near 62nd Street West and Avenue M.

``All the ingredients for the boom are in place,'' Anderson said. ``Starting in January the impact will be felt.''

Major projects that are expected to bring hundreds of jobs to the Antelope Valley will lead the way, including the relocation of 1,000 workers from Lockheed Martin's Aircraft Services unit from Ontario to Palmdale and a recent development agreement between Palmdale and a Los Angeles clothing manufacturer to develop an industrial park.

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2 Photos

Photo: (1--ran in SAC and AV--color in AV) Carpenters fr ame a new house in the Ridgepointe tract in Palmdale. Construction continues even as new tract home sales decline.

(2--ran in SAC and AV--color in AV) New single-family dwellings in the Ridgepointe tract will offer spacious valley views.

Jeff Goldwater/Daily News