Dive Brief:

• Tri Pointe will update six long-held assets in Southern California by revising their land plans and collaborating with local groups, including school districts, homeowners’ associations and parks departments, the company announced this week.

• Of the target communities, two have already opened: Aliento, a 498-home community in Santa Clarita that opened in February, and the 456-home Westridge at Canyon Hills in Lake Elsinore, which opened in August 2016 and has 165 sales so far. It also is advancing four additional communities that together will provide more than 7,000 homes.

• As part of its focus on placemaking, Tri Pointe is reworking each MPC to optimize topography, orient home sites to maximize views, improve outdoor living, and offer options across a range of buyer types and price points.

Dive Insight:

Tri Pointe’s re-energizing of this group of MPCs offering nearly 8,000 homes comes as California’s housing inventory remains in drastically short supply. Estimates from the state’s Department of Housing and Community Development indicate that the annual addition of 80,000 new homes is far short of the 180,000 needed each year to meet the needs of the state’s growing population.

Despite the obstacles, California’s spring buying season is starting strong, according to the California Association of Realtors, with single-family sales 4% higher than they were in February and 6.9% over March 2016. Meanwhile, median home prices were up 8% from February and 6.8% from a year ago.

Tri Pointe’s reworking of its SoCal MPCs to maximize natural amenities is in line with recent trends in similar communities around the country. Developers are increasingly making use of layouts that work with the existing land and incorporate outdoor trails and green space ideally suited to each location and market in lieu of golf courses or a complete reliance on built amenities. 

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