Richmond American. (Outlying).

Summary: There's little secret to the popularity of Richmond American's communities in the Antelope and Santa Clarita Valleys. The houses are fairly large and relatively affordable.

"Our primary focus is the first-time, move-up buyer," said Gary Reece, chief financial officer of MDC Holdings, Richmond American's parent company. "We try to have multiple price points in all the markets we' re in.

In the first quarter, the company sold 102 homes in its entry-level projects in Antelope Valley, plus "move-up" developments in the San Fernando and Santa Clarita Valleys.

Prices start in the mid $400,000s for a 2,532-square-foot in Castaic's Hasley Hills development. Larger, more expensive homes start between $500,000 and $600,000 at the Ranch and Esperance in Tesoro del Valle and Sundance at Westridge in Valencia.

The company has grown by acquiring smaller parcels that can accommodate 125 to 150 lots, "We don't want to be exposed in one location at any time," Reece explained, so the strategy is to get in and out quickly. "From first sale to last sale is two years or less, so absorption levels are very important to us."

Additionally, Richmond American will not buy unentitled real estate and wants to see a preliminary plan before picking up a parcel.

"We buy from Lennar and other developers and let them develop the master-plan community," Reece said. "We'll buy the lots at retail. We prefer finished lots, but that's very hard to come by and I don't anticipate many of those sites in the future."

For the near-term, Richmond American has projects underway in Lancaster and at Providence in Palmdale. And with several other master-planned communities in the works in the north county, opportunities should arise for further growth.