Santa Clarita Valley Leads Area in New-Home Sales.

So what was the best-selling new housing project in Los Angeles County last year?

The answer is Centex Homes' Cedar Pointe at NorthLake project in Castaic, where all 1 07 homes were sold, according to The Meyers Group, a real estate consulting firm.

While some homebuyers may indeed be returning to urban Los Angeles after finding grueling commutes to homes in the northern edge of the county too much for them, there are still many people who are willing to travel long distances so they can own a large new home that's affordable.

Among the other top-selling new housing projects in 2000 were the Crest at Hasley Hills in Castaic, Beazer and Forecast at Rancho Vista in Palmdale, and Sundance in Santa Clarita.

The key ingredients to attracting new-home buyers in L.A. are value and relative proximity to employment centers, said Jay Moss, president and regional general manager of the Los Angeles division of KB Home, formerly Kaufman and Broad Home Corp. (KB Home is the developer of Crest at Hasley Hills.)

"It offers the closest location for a homebuyer to get a brand new home with a reasonable commute to the San Fernando Valley," Moss said. "It's a tremendous value in the moderate move-up market, compared to Valencia and other Canyon County areas."

Mark Higgins, marketing director for Centex Homes Los Angeles/Ventura, calls Castaic "a fringe market."

"As sales prices have increased here in Valencia and Stevenson Ranch, it has caused people looking for this price point to look into the fringe market," he said.

The price point for Cedar Pointe is $301,150 for a four-bedroom, three-bath, two-story home with 2,714 square feet of space. That's the smallest of three models that Centex built at the development.

Among Castaic's attributes, according to Higgins, are its easy access to Interstate 5, increasing shopping destinations and solid churches and schools.

Buyers returning

The northern edge of Los Angeles County had lost its luster during the recession of the early 1990s, after a 1980s' defense-related boom turned into a bust. But Lou Bozigian, broker/owner of Fred Sands Mid-Valley Realtors, soon to become Coldwell Banker/Bozigian Realtors, said that Santa Clarita and areas northward have once again become a refuge for people who have grown weary of the congestion of Los Angeles.

"Santa Clarita is growing in leaps and bounds. The reason is that it's a desirable area not far from the Los Angeles Basin," Bozigian said. "It's s not, as congested. There's not as much crime and our home prices, whether they be on the hillsides or flatlands, are 30 percent less (than those in L.A.'s core residential areas)."

Bozigian, one-time mayor of Lancaster, said he has been selling 3,000-square-foot homes with pools and landscaping for between $250,000 and $275,000. A 2,000-square-foot model could go for $150,000 or less. That's much more affordable than the average $360,000 home in the San Fernando Valley.

"Even if we had a recession, that's where our affordability comes into play even more so," Bozigian said. "Most people can buy here and their payment will be the same or less than they would be paying in rent (closer to Los Angeles)."

Move-up opportunity

One of the keys to success for Beazer at Rancho Vista is timing, according to Clarence Clemons, director of sales for Beazer Homes Southern California/Santa Clarita. The installation of the Rancho Vista Golf Course coincided with the January 1999 opening of the housing development, where Beazer sold 83 of its 165 homes in 2000.

Another advantage was the size of the homes in Bearer's development. Ranging from 1,800 square feet to 2,730 square feet, the new homes were attractive to homebuyers in the market for a first-time move-up from the area's average 1,700-square-foot homes, Clemons said.

Also in 1999, SR Technics Ltd. established its North American headquarters operations for aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul at Palmdale Regional Airport. Those new jobs brought additional homebuyers into the area, Clemons pointed out.

                               Top Projects
                  Cedar Pointe in Castaic was the market
                         leader in new-home sales.
Name and Location                           Developer          Units
Cedar Pointe, Castaic                     Centex Homes           107
Bellport, Signal Hill                     Centex Homes            97
Crest at Hasley Hills, Castaic               KB Home              85
Sundance, Santa Clarita              Western Pacific Housing      84
Pacific Summit, Stevenson Ranch           Centex Homes            83
Beazer at Rancho Vista, Palmdale          Beazer Homes            79
Forecast at Rancho Vista, Palmdale       Forecast Homes           79
Wildwood, Castaic                         Centex Homes            77
Oak Ridge, Santa Clarita                  Beazer Homes            77
Acacia, Saugus                       Western Pacific Housing      72
Silhouette, Valencia                       Shea Homes             71
Oak Lane, Santa Clarita                   Beazer Homes            67
Highlands, Castaic                          MBK Homes             65
Regatta, Marina Del Ray            Crescent Heights of America    61
Palomino, Lancaster                          KB Home              59
Bridgeport, Valencia                      Centex Homes            56
The Cove, Harbor City                   John Laing Homes          55
Barrington, Stevenson Ranch          Richmond American Homes      54
Quail Run, Castiac                           KB Home              53
Country Village, Castaic                D.R. Horton Homes         53
Courtyards, Carson                   K. Hovnanian Companies       53
Summer Moon, Santa Clarita              Pacific Bay Homes         50
The Pointe, Harbor City                 John Laing Homes          50
Maple Walk, Torrance                      The Olson Co.           50