LOS ANGELES – The spring home-selling season is underway, and homebuyers have more leverage this year to get price discounts and other perks on new homes than in years past.
It’s the busiest time for homebuilders, which means they are under less pressure to lower prices. They typically reserve the best bargains for the fall, when they look to thin their slate of unsold homes.
But this year is different. Homebuilders are coming off their worst year in almost a half century, and that means builders are hard-pressed to rack up sales sooner, rather than later.
“In a normal year, I would tell you, you have a better shot buying off-season” to get a lower price, says Stephen East, a Ticonderoga Securities analyst. “This spring … they’re being aggressive early on.”
Builders are counting on spring sales to hoist them out of their doldrums after seeing new-home sales sink last year to 322,000 homes — a 75 percent drop from their 2005 sales peak.
High unemployment, tighter bank lending standards and uncertainty about home prices have kept many buyers from entering the market. Builders also face heightened competition from resale homes and a glut of sharply discounted foreclosed properties.
The industry got help last spring from a temporary federal tax credit aimed at stoking home sales, but this year, it’s all up to builders to woo buyers.
Many are offering a wider range of incentives, such as upgrades on appliances, cabinetry, flooring and other home features. Some also will throw in money to help reduce the size of buyers’ mortgage payments
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