NEW HOME PRICES REACH FOR SKY IN CALABASAS TRACT.

Byline: GREGORY J. WILCOX

CALABASAS - Construction starts May 17 on the first of 245 homes that will help the 91302 ZIP code remain among the Golden State's toniest enclaves.

The homes, in a development called The Oaks of Calabasas, are being built by Calabasas-based New Millennium Homes LLC. Construction of the 550-lot master-planned community started at the beginning of the decade and this is the last major project.

Prices will start at $1.2 million, more than twice the price of a median-priced home in the rest of the San Fernando Valley. And most of these palatial homes are bigger than the standard Valley tract home, with lots ranging from 11,000 square feet to 16,000 square feet.

Also available are five one-acre estate lots starting at $1.6 million.

Not surprisingly, the deep pockets of the moneyed set are already burning in anticipation as first-phase sales start May 15.

``They will go up for sale before they are built and we have over 130 people on our interest list,'' said Patty Grider, a New Millennium new home consultant.

There are four product types, listed from least expensive to most expensive.

--The Arbor has four design plans and ranges in size from 3,400 to 4,200 square feet.

--The Classic features three design plans and ranges in size from 4,300 square feet to 4,800 square feet. The lots are about 12,000 square feet.

--The Master series has three floor plans and will be 4,500 square feet to 5,400 square feet.

--The Reserve has three floor plans and ranges in size from 5,000 square feet to 5,200 square feet.

New Millennium developed part of this parcel that overlooks Calabasas and sold sites to other builders. The track record here is pretty good, too. The 54-unit tract called The Vintage is sold out.

Calabasas is known for its high prices. In March, the median price here was $1.12 million, fourth highest in the state. And it increased an annual 60.2 percent.

And that includes what's got to be the deal of the year in a hot market. Someone recently bought a condominium for $159,000, well below its assessed market value of $207,000, said John Karevoll, an analyst at DataQuick Information Systems.

He speculates that this is a case of one family member helping out another.

And million-dollar price tags are the rule, rather than the exception in Calabasas. Karevoll said there were 50 home sales in the city in March - and 28 of them cost $1 million apiece or more.

Thanks to an improving economy and torrid appreciation, foreclosure activity in California remained at near historic low levels in the first quarter, DataQuick says.

During the year's first three months, lenders initiated foreclosure proceedings on 15,031 homeowners, up 0.2 percent from the end of last year and down 25 percent from a year ago.

The fourth quarter of last year was the record low and the first quarter of this year the second lowest.

Lenders issued 5,135 default notices in Los Angeles County during the quarter, an annual decrease of 39.3 percent.

``There's always going to be some default activity and we're probably as low as we can go right now,'' Marshall Prentice, DataQuick's president, said in a statement.

Gregory J. Wilcox, [phone]

greg.wilcox(at)dailynews.com