REAL ESTATE : Eagle Ridge’s First 9 Pricey Homes Sell in the First Weekend

Who says the new-home market is soft?

Not the folks at Brighton Homes. The Santa Ana builder said it is turning ‘em away at its upscale Eagle Ridge development in Yorba Linda, even though the models do not open for a week.

The conventional wisdom is that the only new homes selling these days are at the bottom of the price scale.

But Gordon Hicks, a Brighton marketing vice president, said more than 470 people signed up to be notified when the first nine Eagle Ridge homes--priced at $435,000 to $510,000--went on the market.

The nine units officially went on sale June 1, and all were sold that weekend, Hicks said.

Brighton has 75 people on a waiting list for the next phase, which goes on sale at the end of the month, said Carole Newkirk, a sales and marketing assistant.