[quote author="bkshopr" date=1231905207][quote author="skek" date=1231904225]BK, correct me if I'm wrong, but my experience suggests to me that the builders aren't so much interested in what consumers want, but rather, how little will they accept at the various price points.
I've seen some builders (not in Irvine, necessarily) in the press talk about moving projects to more attached, high-density product now that mortgage standards are tightening and the economy is weakening. To me, that misses the point. The problem wasn't that people wanted but couldn't afford a $500k condo before, the problem was that condos should have never cost $500k to begin with. If the builders think that replacing planned $750k SFRs with more $500k condos is going to get them out of the current housing slump, I think they are mistaken. They need to find a way to deliver the $750k SFRs for $500k, because that's what they once cost, and that's what they should cost again.</blockquote>
Builders in most metro areas now such as Silicon Valley, Bay Area, and OC are keen in delivering the need of the consumers. Those who think that by building an attached product worth $500k will address the price point of the consumers will only bury themselves in the hole they dug in the first place. Many lending institutions are not approving construction loans on risky attached projects because of poor absorption. I am working with a design team at this moment to invent a $400k detached product in the Silicon Valley to address the very same issue you just pointed out. Consumers do not want attached high density products.
Banks do not like them. I do not like them. Consumers do like like them. You do not like them. It was the greed of the developers and the fault of the consumers for accepting it. The fate of Jamboree corridor is yet to be unveiled.</blockquote>
It seems like there is a tremendous supply of these 400-500K condos still on the market. Nobody is buying them either. It will be interesting to see what happens. Many of these buildings are at 25-50% capacity, the rest of the development being vacant. Developers won't (or are unable to) reduce these pricepoints, which is a shame, as many of these properties are still being marketed towards first time homebuyers.