prime. Your guide to the area’s finest new homes
New Home Guide
60 I prime. Your guide to new homes
APRIL 14, 2010 WEST NEWSMAGAZINE
Wow!
2003 prices at Whittaker’s New Town at St. Charles
Back in 2003 gas prices hit a thenrecord high of $1.79 a gallon. These days that’s a bargain. But a better bargain is right now at Whittaker Homes’ The New Town at St. Charles, where Whittaker recently lowered its prices to the level they were in 2003 when New Town opened. This unusual price rollback on singlefamily and cottage homes means a savings of from $50,000 to $80,000. “It’s for a limited time only,” noted Whittaker Homes President Greg Whittaker. Buyers are taking advantage of lower prices, low mortgage rates and the federal tax credit which expires April 30, he said. “If you wish you had bought in New Town at the beginning when prices were at their lowest,” Whittaker said, “here’s your chance.” For example, a four-bedroom, twobath ranch with two-car garage normally priced from $242,500 is now priced from $164,500. As part of the program, Whittaker also lowered the prices on New Town’s popular Tarn Street lakefront homes to the $180’s. “We have contracts on nine of them,” he said. In 2003, New Town was established as the first true New Urbanism development in Missouri and one of the premier Traditional neighborhoods in the country, designed in the mold of Seaside, Florida. Seven years later, New Town has eclipsed Seaside in growth and amenities. New Town is designed to accommodate a wide price range of homes and small businesses
in a setting that combines old with new, creating a town reminiscent of the past where children can ride their bikes to the corner market or ice cream shop and residents can walk to restaurants and bars like the new Padavan’s, a New York-style eatery. Residents can enjoy shopping at Marsala’s Market, the new Haute Cakes Bakery, fun under the sun at Shire Lane Pool, sand volleyball, an ice-skating rink and a full yearly schedule of music festivals, all of which contribute to the stimulating atmosphere. “There are so many things to do at New Town,” said Whittaker. “It’s just an unbelievable place.” More than half of the residents in New Town live, work and play within the comfort of their own neighborhood, which is what helped make New Town the bestselling development out of 18,600 communities in 16 states in the past three years and one of the top 100 places in America to raise a family. Last year more than 180 families moved to New Town, Whittaker said. “I don’t think there’s any other development that even comes close to that!” “We had 55 sales in the first quarter,” crowed Greg Whittaker, president of Whittaker Homes and developer of The New Town at St. Charles. “That’s the best sales we’ve had in those months since 2007.” To visit New Town take Highway 364 to north on New Town Boulevard 1.5 miles to the entrance on the right. Call 636-9492700 or visit www.newtownatstcharles. com.
Your guide to new homes prime. I 61
Hencken Valley Estates
sold!
Located in Wildwood
Minutes froM everyday conveniences, intiMate custoM hoMe coMMunity on 3 acre wooded lots. near Greensfelder Park
starting in the $690’s. ranch and 1.5 story plans to choose from or bring your own. T
Melrose Road
Six Fl oad ags R
n ke nc He ad Ro
Hencken Valley Estates
Greensfelder Park
Highway 109
Highway
Hig hw ay 10 0
APRIL 14, 2010 WEST NEWSMAGAZINE
Six Flags Highway
44
GENERAL CONTRACTOR
Since 1964
contact: Jane Peacock 636-236-9927 or a.J. Borzillo 314-842-2218 www.ajborzillo.com
SUITE 108 3828 S. LINDBERGH ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI 63127 ajborzillo@sbcglobal.net 842-2212 FAX 842-2217
European Country Elegance
Elegant New Display Home Available Now at The Estates at August Tavern Creek in Wildwood Bolen Development Corporation presents it’s nineteenth custom home at this prestigious private community which offers secluded three acre wooded home sites. Eleven of these homes entered the Homer Award judging and all received the coveted trophy. Melrose Rd. 1/2 Mile West of Highway T off Manchester Rd. St. Louis County
MANNIE GLAZER 314-795-7972
smglaze @ cbgundaker.com
9 Natural Gas 9 Rockwood North Schools 9 High Speed DSL
Internet Available
CHESTERFIELD WEST • 111 CHESTERFIELD TOWNE CENTRE • CHESTERFIELD, MO 63005 • 636-532-0200
62 I prime. Your guide to new homes
APRIL 14, 2010 WEST NEWSMAGAZINE
prime.time
News and notes on new home builders
by KEVIN WEAKS
Time is running out for homebuyer tax credit, cheap mortgages
Custom Build ~ Our Land or Yours! Visit our current community...
Directions from Hwy 40: South at Long - right at Wild Horse Creek go 2.5 miles - left at Eatherton - left at Orrville - left into Meridien.
0
Limited Time - Display Inventory Sale! Buy a Lot Build Later!
Display Open Saturday & Sunday ~ 12 - 4 pm or Call for an Appointment.
Donna Haskell & Danielle Nicholl 314-724-9234
314-651-0466
Chesterfield West • 111 Chesterfield Towne Centre • Chesterfield, MO 63005 • (636) 532-0200
www.rjbarry.com
Last week the average national average for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 5.21 percent, the highest it has been since August 2009. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has said in no uncertain terms that he wants to keep short-term interest rates low for an extended period of time. But that won’t stop mortgage rates from rising. Take it from a man who knows: “Rates aren’t going any lower,” advised Al Will, president of Gershman Mortgage in Clayton. “Now is the best time to buy or refinance.” Clayton-based Gershman Mortgage financed over $250 million in singlefamily and multi-family loans in its fiscal first quarter and is the oldest independent mortgage company in St. Louis. The National Association of Realtors, which not surprisingly takes a optimistic view of the real estate business, predicts a surge in sales in April, May and June, but then a subsequent sales decline in the thirdquarter. This tracks with the new-home selling season in St. Louis, which usually sees a pickup in sales in the early part of the fourth quarter. The Realtors also are projecting that 30-year fixed rates could climb to 5.86% by year’s end, reinforcing Gershman President Al Will’s caveat. Even more compelling, Uncle Sam’s $8,000 first-timer and $6,500 move-up buyer tax credit incentive is set to expire April 30. Homes must be closed on by June 30 to qualify. Nationally, the jury is still out on whether the expansion of the federal homebuyer tax credit last fall produced the expected surge of home purchases. One loan officer in San Francisco reported that the tax credit’s lure has waned since last fall. However in St. Louis, at least, it seems to have worked well. “The market has improved dramatically from what it was a year ago,” McKelvey Homes President Jim Brennan said recently. “We’re planning on doing 60 homes this year, which is almost double what we did in 2009.” Brennan gives props to the tax credit and low interest rates for driving sales in the last quarter of 2009 and first quarter of 2010. Greg Whittaker, president of Whittaker Homes, had a similar experience. “We had
55 sales in the first quarter. Those are the best sales we’ve had in those months since 2007.” What happens to the market after the federal tax incentive goes away? Check back here next month and I’ll let you know. Here’s what else is going on: Fischer & Frichtel is now offering more affordable price points at its 16 communities, while still maintaining the firm’s enduring reputation for top-quality homes, according to CEO John Fischer. “Faced with financial uncertainty and increasingly strict mortgage qualifications, pricing has become the homebuyer’s paramount concern,” Fischer said. “We want people who thought they could never afford a Fischer & Frichtel home to realize that they now have that opportunity.” Fischer & Frichtel has introduced a company-wide program to meet the needs of today’s consumers that includes working closely with homebuyers to build the home of their dreams at a price they can afford. “The ability and willingness to customize have always been a Fischer & Frichtel hallmark,” noted Sales Manager Linda Linden. For information visit any Fischer & Frichtel community. Thomas & Suit Homes has broken ground on a new inventory home, the Sassafras II, on a wooded homesite in Wyndgate Forest near Highway N and Highway 40 in St. Charles County. Based on the current Sassafras display, the new Sassafras II ranch has more than 2,600 square feet and will feature three bedrooms, two baths (the bedrooms are “split” with the master on the opposite side of the home from the other bedrooms), plus a study, open kitchen, breakfast room and hearth room; a covered porch; dining room; and great room with fireplace. All of the living areas, with the exception of the bedrooms and study, will have 11-foot ceilings. Hardwood floors will be in the foyer, kitchen, breakfast room and hearth room. This inventory home marks the debut of the Sassafras II plan, and will be priced at $365,000. For information, call Community Sales Manager Christy Brandt at 636-561-2120, or visit www.tshomes.net.
APRIL 14, 2010 WEST NEWSMAGAZINE
Your guide to new homes prime. I 63
Olive
Gannon Homes Close To Everything
West County Locations!!!! Condo’s From the $120’s
Ellisville & Creve Coeur
Clarkson Townhomes Located on the east side of Clarkson Road, just north of Manchester Road.
636-256-6800 FROM $129,900
OPEN R F I-MON 11 TO 5
Queen Anne Condominiums Lindbergh Blvd. to Schuetz Road, go west two blocks and turn right on Willow Brook.
314-994-0077 FROM $124,900
www.gannonhomes.net