By Meghan Hall
The pandemic and rapid increase in demand for for-sale homes has developers scrambling to keep pace. Across the Puget Sound, home developers have been working to buy tracts of land as they prepare new developments for construction. In a new deal that was recorded on May 5th, Richmond American Homes of Washignton spent $22.748 million on land in the growing suburb of Puyallup. The seller, according to public documents, was an entity affiliated with the Madrona at Sunrise Inc.
The land is located along 179th St. E, 178th St. E, and 127th Ave. Ct. E. In all, Richmond American Homes purchased 24 parcels of property. The parcels total about 3.5 acres. The land is not far from the Puyallup River or Pierce County Airport: Thun Field. The surrounding area is overwhelmingly residential.
The land is slated to become a development dubbed “Madronas.”
“Part of the Puyallup School District, Madronas offers a convenient location near Sunrise Village, shopping, dining and more,” states the development’s website. “Homebuyers will appreciate ranch-style and two-story floor plans with plentiful options to personalize, including a 3-car garage or guest suite on some homes.”
The community will feature a mix of five different home styles, each with between three to six bedrooms. Homes will range between about 1,950 square feet to 2,930 square feet. Base prices for the properties have yet to be determined.
In recent years, Richmond American Homes has developed well over a dozen communities around the Puget Sound. Its developments include Canyon Terrace in Renton, Fairview Terrace near Everett, and Blueberry Lane, near South Seattle.
At the end of the first quarter of 2021, Richmond Americanreported that home sale revenues grew 49 percent year-over-year. The past year, the company reported a 41 percent increase in closing and a six percent rise in average selling prices.
“We continue to see heightened demand for our homes, as evidenced by the 34% year-over-year increase to unit orders for the quarter,” said Chairman LArry A. Mizel in a statement. “The only constraint to our sales efforts are ones that we are imposing on ourselves, in an effort to balance orders and pricing to best manage our backlog.”
Looking ahead, the company is betting that the housing market will remain strong, benefitting from an ongoing imbalance between housing supply in demand, especially in growing markets like the Puget Sound.
