Condos & townhomes vs. 'space embrace'

A few weeks back, two articles in the local newspaper caught my eye, if only because they were a few days apart and both were about emerging trends within Inland Southern California's housing market. And yet, they could not have been more diametrically opposed.

The first article shows the emerging trend -- even here, in the suburbs of all suburbs -- of condo and townhome projects (something sorely lacking in much of Southern California, particularly within the Inland region). The article highlights a number of such projects proposed for Inland Southern California.

Proposed downtown Riverside project
MetroPacific Properties LLC

More importantly, however, is that it also highlights the fact that it appears SoCal homebuilders have finally realized there's "another" segment of the local home-buying market: young professionals and empty-nesters. Many buyers from this segment aren't interested in the latest, greatest McMansion tract home located within the latest and greatest far-flung suburb. In fact, most are looking for much smaller living spaces with little or no yards and/or a more urban landscape.

Though a few such condo projects have been proposed in the past couple of years in downtown Riverside, none have yet to materialize. However, for many people (including yours truly), such a project can't come fast enough. Fortunately, after a few false starts, it appears one such project may in fact finally come to fruition as two former rivals recently announced their intentions to join together in building the winning bid. Hopefully, this one will actually make it beyond the planning stage.

The second article, however, couldn't have been more different. It basically reaffirmed that the suburban tract home is still king in Southern California. Only nowadays, the average tract home has grown considerably larger -- nearing 3,000 sq. ft. There are various reasons for the seemingly large increase in new home sizes, but the fact of the matter remains, how much larger can they grow? Likewise, how much farther out on the horizon can they go?

Bottom line, the two articles point to the emerging diversity of the new home market within Inland Southern California. Although homes themselves are indeed growing larger, it's gratifying to see that homebuilders are also finally recognizing there's a market for more than just the traditional single-family tract home.