With a 13 percent increase in the number of entries, the 2015 Parade of Homes, which started Saturday at single lots and subdivisions throughout Sarasota and Manatee counties, is starting to have a boomtime buzz.
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Members of the Manatee Sarasota Building Industry Association have entered 93 models in the Parade of Homes, indicating that local construction is in a definite recovery mode. In 2013, there were 65 model home entries. In 2014, there were 81.
Lee Wetherington Homes' Windsong model in Country Club East at Lakewood Ranch. Staff photo / Harold Bubil; 2-17-2015.
John Cannon Homes' Kiandra model, in Seacroft at Country Club East in Lakewood Ranch, is one of several models in Country Club East that have "clear view" screens for enhanced views from the pool area. The screen is 10 feet tall and 35 feet wide. Staff photo / Harold Bubil; 2-17-2015.
The number of models entered in the BIA’s major marketing event, which concludes March 8, is a sign of the improving health of the local housing industry, said Mike Rahn, president of the BIA and a mortgage lender at Regions Bank.
“Overall the trend has been in an upward direction, with each year seeing more models” in the parade, Rahn said.
Builders report the number of people touring model homes has been heavy in advance of the Parade of Homes.
“Traffic has been unbelievable, really busy,” said Peter Mason, head of sales at Lee Wetherington Homes. “The Parade is going to take it to another level.”
Mason is showing Wetherington’s new Windsong model at Seacroft in Country Club East.
“There is a pent-up demand for this new section of CCE,” Mason said. “The combination of pent-up demand; attractive, new-looking property; and a sense from the consumer that rates are still low and are probably going to rise — and seeing the lots disappearing quickly — has them motivated to make a move.”
Arthur Rutenberg Homes/Nelson Homes' Novara model in Seacroft at Country Club East in Lakewood Ranch. Staff photo / Harold Bubil; 2-17-2015.
Rahn described the home-building environment as “very strong,” and he is busy lending to home buyers, even though in some locations, such as Country Club East, builders are reporting that two-thirds of their buyers are paying cash for homes.
“With the lack of inventory and with the new technology in the homes of today, buyers are heading into the newly constructed or to-be-built market,” Rahn said.
“With the inventory or resales down, more than it has been in many years, there is a market and a demand for new housing,” said Judy Green, CEO of Premier Sotheby’s International Realty. “People are going to want a new house if they can get it at the right price and in the right location.
“People are coming down here and leaving the brutal winters behind them, and they are buying homes.”
“People want it now, they are paying cash and they are putting down roots,” said Realtor Perry Corneau of Premier Sotheby’s.
Rahn added that builders are confident and that “as rates continue to stay at near-historic lows, the home building environment should stay strong.”
Tour-goers will see more luxury and larger homes on the Parade of Homes, influenced by the architect-designed custom modernist houses being built around the region, Rahn said.
Traditional, Tuscan and Mediterranean, long favored by builders as best-sellers, are being integrated with “a more modern influence,” Rahn said. “We are not seeing a lot of the standard concrete-block type homes.
“Homes today are showing more depth to the elevation, with added stone, side-loaded garages and even, in some cases, a more Craftsman-style elevation,” he noted. “Today’s buyers are looking for something that breaks away from the standard elevations we have seen in the past.”
Builders are not the only entrants in the Parade of Homes. Five developments are entered, including the Homes of Laurel Park enclave now in site preparation on Alderman Street in downtown Sarasota. Also, 41 subcontractors will display their work.
Teams of judges will examine the homes today for the design awards competition. The winners will be honored during the Parade of Homes banquet on March 5, with the list of winners published in the Herald-Tribune on March 8.
Builders must be members of the BIA and pay $2,400 for the first entry (less for multiples) to the BIA to enter a model in the parade. Entries peaked at 140 during the boom of 10 years ago and fell to 28 in 2010.
Neal Communities, including Neal Signature Homes, tops the list with 18 model entries in the Parade of Homes.
For the design competition, the models are broken into price groupings. Models are priced from about $200,000 to $2.5 million, the latter for Anchor Builders’ Siena IV model in The Lake Club at Lakewood Ranch. Medallion Signature Homes has a $2.4 million model, the Bimini, in The Reserve at The Inlets along the Manatee River east of Bradenton.
For the builders, the Parade of Homes is all about exposure. After all, their models are open all year. The parade is at its heart a marketing event to attract attention to “product."
About 250,000 Parade of Homes magazines will be distributed, both in the model homes and information centers, as well as in today’s Herald-Tribune.
