PRESS RELEASE

Sacramento Bee
July 30, 2004

NO. 1 BEST-SELLING SERRANO ENTERS FINAL BUILDING PHASE

Sales Continue to Break Records With Only 12 Percent of Land Left for Development

The 3,500-acre Serrano community in El Dorado Hills is entering its final building phase following a record-breaking year in 2003 that made it the No. 1 best-selling master planned community in Northern California. Serrano's builders sold 603 homes last year to place it in the top spot among communities in the $350,000-plus range, according to The Gregory Group, a market research firm in Folsom.

The 51 percent sales spike in 2003 prompted developers Parker Development Company and Catellus Residential Group to break ground for Serrano's final villages constituting approximately 432 acres. According to Bill Parker, president of Parker Development Company, the remaining 12 percent of the community's land is among the easiest to build on within Serrano, with groves of trees and views of Serrano's private fairways and snow-capped mountains. Serrano's location in the Sierra foothills provides views of Folsom Lake, the Sacramento city lights, and the mountains surrounding Lake Tahoe.

Parker estimates that the remaining land should accommodate about 1,000 to 1,500 more homes. Initial plans call for approximately 300 custom lots, with the remainder allocated for production homes. Some of the newly planned area will be sold to production builders for the construction of homes in a variety of sizes and styles. About 1,000 acres of Serrano land will continue to remain as open space.

The Gregory Group's 2003 study also revealed that 20.5 percent of all high-end ($400,000 and above) new-home purchases in the Sacramento metropolitan area were in Serrano.

During the first six months of 2004, Serrano's builders sold 451 homes, about 49 percent more than the same period in 2003. Serrano currently has homes starting from the low $400,000s to the $600,000s, ranging in size from 1,752 to 4,897 square feet. There are approximately 20 models to tour in five individual gated villages.

Serrano's current production homebuilders include Centex Homes, Warmington Homes, Standard Pacific, US Home, and Pacific Mountain Partners. Two new communities were recently introduced: Eagle Pointe by Standard Pacific Homes and La Cima by Centex Homes.

A new offering of 75 custom home sites was released at Serrano in March 2004. This release came on the heels of a stellar 2003 for custom lot sales as well, with 51 lots sold, almost double the 2002 figure. Most of the Serrano custom home sites are priced from the high $200,000s to more than $500,000 and range from one-third to more than one acre. There are two lots sized at nearly 5 acres each and priced at $1.5 million each.

Meanwhile, Parker Development Company and Catellus continue to develop The Parkway, their master-planned community located just 10 minutes away from Serrano in Folsom. The Parkway came in as No. 3 on the same Gregory Group study of $350,000-and-above homes. No. 2 was Windemere in Contra Costa County.