Annual Fall Parade of Homes reflects Lawrence home builders’ response to affordable housing market

The Lawrence Home Builders Association’s annual Fall Parade of Homes will be just a bit shorter during its second weekend.

Bobbie Flory, the association’s executive director, said one of the single-family homes listed on the tour sold during its first weekend, but there will still be plenty to see from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday when the tour resumes.

“We still have 26 homes,” she said. “That’s a good number for a fall tour.”

The tour has 20 single-family homes, five townhomes and one subdivision. Home prices range from $164,000 to $659,000, Flory said. The tour reflects a trend in Lawrence of builders responding to the market for affordable housing, she said.

“The price of an average newly constructed home built in Lawrence through June was $263,830,” she said. “For all of 2015, the average price was $338,000. That’s a remarkable difference, and attributable to home builders understanding there is a market for affordable homes and trying to provide a product for that price point.”

Flory said those taking the complete tour would visit neighborhoods in southeast, south-central, west, northwest and North Lawrence. A map of the tour can be viewed at LawrenceParade.com. Participants can start anywhere on the tour and visit as many homes as they want, she said.

“There’s a lot to see,” she said. “We have some very, very elaborate homes, some awesome entry-level price-point homes and everything in between.”

Some tour participants are looking to buy a home, while others are looking for ideas in color schemes, landscaping or a remodeling project, Flory said.

“The homes will be in various stages of completion,” she said. “Some are finished and furnished to give people an idea of how furniture fits. Some aren’t to that point. That can be a good thing, because it gives people the opportunity to pick their own finishes.”