New-home construction trends tend to develop and evolve along with buyers’ changing needs and household dynamics. But now more than ever, life outside the home is playing a bigger role in new-home purchase decisions.
“If we look at the success of River Islands over the past five years, people are now making a different statement about what they’re looking for when they buy a new house,” said Colleen Edwards, marketing director for the River Islands master-planned community in Lathrop. “Although home style, design and layout are always important, buyers now are asking how that house or community is going to add to their lifestyle.”
Beyond a good quality house for their families, plus the benefits of new construction and California homeownership, new-home buyers are thinking longer term. “We have a few different buyer profiles,” Edwards added. “There are families with kids under age 12, families with kids over age 12 who are still living at home and the active-adult buyers who are either Gen-Xers getting closer to being empty nesters or baby boomers who may or may not be retirees.”
The teams at River Islands have found it fascinating, Edwards said, that people who visited the community in its earlier years were able to envision the future. “They were in a different stage when they first visited and now they’re coming back and finding that the lifestyle here matches what they knew they would need.”
From the brand-new competition baseball field, numerous competition-style soccer fields and acres upon acres of community parks, to miles of waterways, trail systems and new high-performing schools, people are discovering more than luxury homesites. Open space and outdoor amenities include 11 lakes with boathouses or water recreation, as well as the Michael Vega Memorial Park, picnic areas, a dog park and a year-round schedule of community events.
“It is said that the things people are looking for in a new-home community are security, schools and amenities,” Edwards said.
Among those secure features, Lathrop and River Islands built a brand-new fire station last year; a new state-of-the-art police station is in the planning stages. Proof of the community’s excitement about these services was demonstrated by more than 400 people showing up earlier this year to celebrate the grand opening of, you guessed it, the fire station.
“In addition to the two new schools already open, they are also planning a high school.” All of these services support a growing community where families live in any number of elevations from 11 different model complexes.
“Buying a new home is not a price-driven decision anymore,” Edwards said. “It’s almost as if buyers are saying, ‘Prove to me that you can change my life,’ before they buy.”
The lifeblood of a community like River Islands, said Edwards, is constant evolution and change for the better. “A community has to have something new all the time; if people drive out and see the same thing every time, they won’t believe in it; they won’t believe the community is moving forward,” she said. “But when people come out here after visiting in the beginning, their heads spin with all that’s happening!”
In the community’s early days, she added, buyers’ priorities were home size or features such as a bonus room, a space for a gym or an in-law suite. Now, beyond the flexible layout choices, architecture and contemporary designs that builders provide, buyers prioritize how their lifestyle will look and feel.
Let’s block ads! (Why?)
