Parade of Homes puts design on display
South Capitol, Las Campanas properties highlights of annual showcase featuring 19 homes
The 2017 Haciendas — A Parade of Homes came just in time for the family-owned Prull Custom Builders. The builder has eight homes in progress, but three others were finished in time to be featured as part of the annual Parade of Homes, a showcase of new homes and remodeling projects sponsored every summer by the Santa Fe Area Home Builders Association. The home showcase begins Friday. One Prull home is on 2.2 acres in Las Campanas overlooking federal land. Another is an angular design with a two-story studio and workshop on 5 acres off Tano Road. A third is likely to get the most traffic because it’s in the middle of the city’s South Capitol neighborhood — a tech-savvy contemporary home with glass balusters, steel handrails, an elevator and unfinished basement that will be used as a wine cellar.
“It’s a smart home. The owners are very tech savvy and have incorporated all that into their home,” said Jodi Vevoda of Prull Custom Builders.
Vevoda said 2017 is the company’s busiest year ever, and it is ramping up for more groundbreakings set for fall and spring. It’s the first time a builder has had three new homes in the Parade of Homes, now in its 25th year.
“We see this as a great platform for our homes,” Vevoda said.
Many buyers don’t want a home on public display for privacy reasons. Other times, construction on a home can’t get started until after
the winter and isn’t finished until later in the summer.
“It’s really hard to time a project with the parade,” she said.
The 19 new homes and remodeling projects on display this year are fewer than the 25 last year and down considerably from the peak years when the Santa Fe Area Home Builders Association showcased as many as 40 homes and remodels. Home construction in Santa Fe County is the busiest since about 2008, but the strong market means builders are more occupied with logistics other than marketing and staging.
“We have fewer builders in the past and a great market. We’re trying to understand what that means,” said Bruce Thompson of Palo Santo Designs, which has been part of the Santa Fe homebuilding industry for 25 years.
Properties at the lower end of the new home market are in short supply and selling quickly. Past years have seen entries in more affordable subdivisions such as Oshara Village, Rancho Viejo, La Pradera, Tierra Contenta and Aldea. This year, builders in those projects probably don’t need the exposure because of good sales.
“This year, I don’t think anybody really needs the parade,” said Kim Shanahan, executive director of the Santa Fe Home Builders Association.
The lowest priced properties in the Parade of Homes — on sale for $439,000 and $476,000 — are from Rob Gibbs, owner of Arete Homes of Santa Fe at Villa di Toscana near Camino Carlos Rey and Governor Miles Road.
The nonprofit Homewise, which has a mission to get lowand middle-income families into home ownership, is featuring a midrange home in Tessera north of N.M. 599 that lists for $550,000.
Mike Loftin, executive director of Homewise, said that when development in Tessera started, homes there were selling for more than $600,000 and that his organization was able to purchase lots out of foreclosure from Los Alamos National Bank when the developer had financial problems.
Homewise intends to develop it as a mixed-use neighborhood and is constructing homes in Tessera for $132,000 and $147,000 for income-qualified families, in part made possible from sales of the market-priced homes.
Of the 19 properties in the Parade of Homes this year, six are in Las Campanas, a sign that sales in the subdivision are again gaining traction.
One builder new to Las Campanas is The Pulte Group, the nation’s largest homebuilding company, which purchased 49 lots in Las Campanas and aims to offer a less expensive home. Its parade offering is on one-third of an acre with three bedrooms, 3.5 baths and a detached casita. With upgrades, the home is priced at $1.12 million, but Pulte is advertising Las Campanas homes with prices starting around $650,000.
The properties in the Parade of Homes also might be a sign that speculative construction is back in the Santa Fe market.
The spec market was intense in Santa Fe before the housing meltdown as builders, often with a financing partner, would purchase lots and start construction knowing the property would sell before or within a short time of completion.
Those sales disappeared after the recession when lenders became unwilling to take on that risk.
Shanahan said three homes in the Parade of Homes were started as spec homes by a builder without an initial buyer. Each is now under contract.
“No question about it, spec homes are back,” Shanahan said.