Lennar has 3 new affordable home floor plans

The verdict is in — the old way of doing business is over. Join us at Inman Connect New York Jan. 23-25, when together we’ll conquer today’s market challenges and prepare for tomorrow’s opportunities. Defy the market and bet big on your future.

Lennar Homes is fighting back against a seven-month trend of increasing home prices.

The homebuilder announced today the release of three new affordable floor plans for homebuyers in California’s Central Valley. Real estate agents in Shafter, Fresno and Clovis will be able to recommend the mid-$300,000 homes after the New Year, according to a Nov. 28 press release. They are available now for virtual tours on Lennar.com.

The homes are part of the company’s “Everything’s Included” incentive, which offers a one-stop solution for outfitting a new home, coming complete with “stainless steel GE kitchen appliances, quartz countertops, designer-selected cabinetry and a host of other carefully curated interior touches and designer fixtures,” the release stated.

Mike Miller heads up Lennar’s Central Valley Division as its president. He said in a statement that the company is dedicated to providing value along with attractive pricing.

“We are delighted to bring affordable single-family homes that will fill the need for a lower priced, quality home in the market,” Miller said. “This series of homes offers a great value in desirable locations that will appeal to Central California home shoppers.”

Many of the most affordable homes Lennar is building in Central California are less than 2,000 square feet. One model provides just 1,341 square feet of living space, illustrating the recent downsizing trend among homebuilders to meet demand for affordable homes.

According to the National Association of Home Builders, the median floor area of single-family homes started during the third quarter of 2023 was 2,221 square feet — close to the lowest reading since late 2010.

The sprawling Central Valley of California is primarily an agricultural region, one of the nation’s most fecund. Its farmers support a massive base of business, yet its hundreds of thousands of workers remain challenged by the state’s perpetually high cost of living. Lennar’s homes will aim to at least partially alleviate home price hurdles for people in the area’s more populated districts, namely Bakersfield, Fresno and Clovis.

Gossamer Grove is a master-planned community north of Bakersfield, Juniper Hills is in Fresno and in Clovis, the affordable homes can be found in the Corinthalyn community.

Lennar’s timing couldn’t be more on-point. In addition to the months-long rise in home prices, mortgage rates are dropping and the market is smelling a shift.

Inman reported that on Nov. 15, rates experienced the largest single-day drop since the pandemic, which could inspire long-gestating buyers to get back into the market. The rebound in buyer interest and falling 30-year fixed rates won’t do much for home prices, however, a fact that could only exacerbate consumer sentiment about the market.

Worsening affordability has pushed Americans to the brink, with more than a third of Americans wishing for a housing crash in 2024, according to a LendingTree survey published on Tuesday, Nov. 28.

The financial website surveyed more than 2,000 consumers aged 18 to 77 about their sentiments on the housing market. Forty-five percent of respondents said they expect the housing market to crash in 2024, while 31 percent were unsure about the likelihood of a 2008-esque decline.

Only 25 percent said the market wouldn’t crash over the next 12 months.

However, LendingTree Senior Economist Jacob Channel isn’t bullish on the odds of a crash.

“If you’re hoping that the housing market will crash and make it easier for you to buy a house, you’ll probably be disappointed,” he said. “Not only does data indicate the odds of a housing crash in the next few years are slim, the past shows that when the market crashes, it tends to hurt more people than it helps.”

Email Craig Rowe