Trends

But in Jacksonville, which remains Florida’s most affordable major market, you can still buy a single-family home priced in the $200s or lower—if you know where to look.

In fact, the median price of all new homes sold in the Northeast Florida region—including Duval, St. Johns, Clay and Nassau counties—was $201,300 in March, significantly below the statewide median price of $236,000-plus.

Plus, it’s currently a buyer’s market—which means first-time buyers, empty-nesters and others looking for an affordable home have plenty of choices and plenty of leverage.

Making the situation even more favorable, mortgage interest rates remain near historic lows. A 30-year, fixd-rate mortgage averaged 6.16 percent during the last week in March, up slightly from the 6.14 percent earlier that same month but lower than the 6.32 percent posted at the same time a year ago.

Some builders are attracting buyers with incentives that include paying all or a percentage of closing costs. Engle Homes, for example, even offers a “move-in ready house” complete with refrigerator, washer, dryer and blinds.

“Just bring your bed and you can sleep in it tonight,” says Andy Chambers, Engle’s division president.

Homes priced at or near $200,000 often offer less square footage and are built on smaller homesites. But they sacrifice little in the way of stylish fixtures and finishes such as tile in wet areas, designer kitchen cabinets, upgraded landscape packages and—in master-planned communities—an array of shared amenities.

In addition to Engle, KB Home, Ryland Homes, D.R. Horton, Drees Homes, SEDA Construction Company, Adams Homes, Maronda Homes, Collins Builders, Seagate Homes and CornerStone Homes are among the builders delivering value-priced homes in communities throughout Northeast Florida.

“I think the bottom line is that regardless of a good or bad housing market, the typical American dream is to own a home,” adds Chambers. “Home prices more than $300,000 put many, many people out of the market. But we’ve been able to come across properties that allow us to be in the $200,000 range. Best of all, we can build these homes and be proud of them without stripping them out.”

Land prices are, of course, a major new-home cost-driver. Ryland Homes and CornerStone Homes are both building in Doctors Inlet Reserve in Orange Park near Fleming Island. And, because Ryland contracted for the land about four years ago, when prices were lower, the builder has been able to hold the line.

However, there are other factors impacting the price of new homes, notes Jeff Agar, Ryland’s division president. Among those factors: the cost of building materials and labor as well as regulatory requirements, such as the payment of impact fees.

Impact fees are assessed against every new home by local governments, with the funds used to mitigate the impact of growth on schools and roads. While few builders argue with the concept behind impact fees, many object to the size of the fees and the way in which they are calculated.

Still, Ryland is offering attractively priced homes in several communities, including Northwoods on New And the company is planning a new community in northern Jacksonville" target="_blank">Clay County called Pine Ridge, where single-family homes will be priced starting in the high $100s.

Ryland offers the Greenbriar model in both the Northwoods and Doctors Inlet Reserve communities. The base price for this 1,227-square-foot, three-bedroom, two-bathroom home ranges from the high $180s to the high $190s, depending upon the location. Ten-foot ceilings in the main living areas—kitchen, dining room, family room and owner’s suite—give the floorplan an open, airy feel despite its relatively compact size. The Greenbriar also includes a two-car garage.

In addition, Northwoods and Doctors Inlet Reserve both boast pools, playgrounds and cabanas while Pine Ridge will feature a $5 million amenity center that will include a pool, tennis courts, a little league baseball field, a soccer field, a community amphitheatre and a 6,000-square-foot clubhouse with a workout center.

“As a company, we like to have a third of our market addressing the first-time homebuyer,” says Agar. “We also like to stay a little closer to the urban core and the employment centers, but there’s limited land availability. It’s getting harder and harder to build below $200,000—but that’s part of what makes our job interesting.”

Ron Harris, sales manager for CornerStone Homes, agrees that there is a tremendous demand for new homes priced between $200,000 and $250,000.

“That’s not a problem market right now,” Harris says. “We don’t scrimp on home features or building standards. Our homes priced under $250,000 have the same materials, workmanship, standard features and fit and finish as our larger, more expensive homes.”

But how long can Harris and other builders continue to serve that market segment? Harris says that labor and materials costs may edge downward because of the slowing market, but rising impact fees will more than offset those savings.

For example, school impact fees in Jacksonville" target="_blank">Clay County now add $7,034 to the price of every new single-family home—and that number may rise considerably in the coming months.

“The new numbers we’re hearing are ranging from $10,000 to $30,000 in Jacksonville" target="_blank">Clay County and that’s really going to affect home prices there,” says Harris.

KB Home offers homes in the $200,000 and under price range aimed at first-time homebuyers looking for larger square footage and community amenities.

“Our floorplans range from 1,300 to 2,300 square feet, depending upon the home and the community,” says Holly Carpenter, KB’s marketing director. “Our philosophy is to offer the lowest base price and allow them to add options based on their own individual style.”

The builder, which now has 14 communities stretching from the Northside to St. Augustine Beach, determines what standard features to offer based upon extensive consumer research. Their findings? Buyers want walk-in closets, knock-down ceilings and large kitchens with islands.

At Amhurst Oaks, located in the Callahan/Fernandina area, Engle is offering three-bedroom, two-bathroom homes starting at $149,990. The homes have two-car garages and range in size from 1,268 to 1,857 square feet. The builder is featuring retooled floorplans from other Florida divisions.

And in OakLeaf Plantation, Engle has homes ranging in size from 1,459 to 1,540 square feet and priced at less than $200,000. The homes feature double-handled faucets, 42-inch uppers with crown moldings and tile in wet areas.

The company is also building homes priced at less than $200,000 at Silver Creek, located in the Lake Asbury area of Jacksonville" target="_blank">Clay County, as well as at Rolling River on the Northside.

“What we did was roll back pricing,” says Chambers, who notes that the company used the slowing market to leverage price reductions from its trade contractors and suppliers and passed the savings along. “I think our homes are priced to the market, rather than marketing up just to mark down.”

Although the profit margins on these homes are low, Chambers says the company is aiming for volume. “We’ve stuck with great standard features and we sometimes offer as much as $10,000 toward closing,” he adds.

Seagate Homes is another builder managing to offer single-family homes priced at less than $200,000—in this case, considerably less. At Ravenswood Forest, a 136-home community in St. Johns County, the company is offering single-family homes priced, amazingly, from the $150s.

“We’ve basically gone back to basics,” says Matt Balls, sales manager for Seagate Homes. “These are solid, well-built homes with concrete-block construction. We’re using all the latest technologies and the most efficient construction techniques, but we’ve limited the upgrades. What we’re offering in Ravenswood is ideal for the first-time buyer, although we recently sold a home to a couple in their 70s.”

So, if lower home prices, historically low interest rates, great amenities and builder incentives are any indication, clearly the time is right to buy. After all, few experts believe that the buyer’s market will continue for long—especially not in a traditional growth market with sound economic fundamentals and impressive job growth.

“We’re experiencing great sales right now and are seeing a normalization of the market,” says Harris. “It’s definitely coming back. So now is a great time to buy, and there’s no promise in the future of it getting better.”?