New Construction Tracker: November 2026

New home construction in Merced County is concentrated in Merced and Turlock this month. In Merced, D.R. Horton is selling Amber Ridge in the 95341 corridor from about $394,990 with solar included, and the 570-home subdivision approved at East Gerard Avenue and Campus Parkway remains the county's largest pending entitlement. In Turlock, Florsheim Homes' Fifth Edition and Bright Homes' 114-home Verano subdivision lead the new-home pipeline. This New Construction Tracker for November 2026 covers new homes in Merced County, permit milestones, and the builder incentives advertised right now, with every item linked to an official or reputable source.

Every development, price range, permit item, and incentive below was checked against a builder website, a city or county permitting page, or reputable local reporting as of this publication. Where something could not be confirmed, this tracker says so plainly instead of guessing, and it never describes neighborhoods or residents. New-home availability and terms change quickly, so treat all figures as a starting point and verify directly with each builder.

What New Homes Are Being Built in Merced County?

New residential development is active across Merced and Turlock. The roster below comes from builder community pages, NewHomeSource's Merced County community listings, and local reporting. Prices are the ranges publicly listed at the time of research and change frequently.

Amber Ridge by D.R. Horton, southeast Merced

D.R. Horton's Amber Ridge, in Merced's 95341 area near the Weaver school attendance boundary, is selling five floor plans of about 1,380 to 1,842 square feet with three to four bedrooms, both single-story and two-story designs, and solar included in the price, per the builder's community page. Listings start around $394,990, with specific homes posted near the low $400,000s to the upper $400,000s. D.R. Horton also lists Bella Oaks II and Lantana in north Merced (95348), Crest View, and Solera III, per NewHomeSource.

Lennar at Moraga, near Yosemite Avenue and Via Moraga

Lennar's Moraga community in Merced, located off Via Moraga close to UC Merced and Lake Yosemite, sold out its Skye and Summer series, per Lennar's website. The sales center for Lennar at Moraga is at 3680 Jardin Way. No active for-sale inventory could be confirmed at time of research, so buyers should contact the sales center directly for the next series.

Stonefield Homes communities across Merced

Regional builder Stonefield Homes lists Stone Ridge West, Bellevue Ranch, Sundial at Bellevue Ranch, Cypress Terrace, the gated Paseo community, and Fahrens Creek Estates in Merced, per NewHomeSource. NewHomeSource tags the gated Paseo community as a Hot Deal listing. Plan types, lot sizes, and pricing vary by community and should be confirmed on Stonefield's site.

Turlock: Fifth Edition, Verano, Canterbury, and more

Florsheim Homes' Fifth Edition in Turlock lists new homes from about $376,990, with the range extending to roughly $456,990 across plan types, per NewHomeSource. Bright Homes' Verano subdivision, a 114-home project on the former strawberry field along West Monte Vista Avenue, was approved by the Turlock City Council in February 2025, per the Turlock Journal. JKB Living's Canterbury (95382) and the Legends North III project in Turlock also appear in current community listings. For a closer look at the Turlock market, visit the Turlock service area page.

Atwater and Livingston: no active national-builder subdivision was confirmed inside either city limit as of this research, per NewHomeSource. The nearest new construction for Atwater buyers is in Merced and Hughson, and for Livingston buyers it is in Turlock and Waterford. Availability changes frequently, so check current inventories directly. Service area guides for Atwater and Merced cover each market in more depth.

Building Permit News: Approvals and Milestones

570-home subdivision approved at East Gerard Avenue and Campus Parkway

The Merced City Council approved a zoning change for a 570-home development at the southwest corner of East Gerard Avenue and Campus Parkway in southeast Merced in October 2025, per the Merced Sun-Star. The site is split by Campus Parkway, with lower- and medium-density lots and a primary park on the north side and denser high- and medium-density lots on the south, plus about nine acres held for commercial use. As of this writing the project remains in the entitlement pipeline, with no public construction timeline confirmed.

City of Merced: electronic permitting and new building codes

The City of Merced moved to a fully electronic permitting system through Civic Access in February 2025, and adopted the 2025 California Building Codes for all submittals on or after January 1, 2026, per the city's building permit applications page. Monthly single-family permit counts in Merced ran between roughly 30 and 50 in most 2025 months, with a sharp spike in June, per Stacker's review of city data.

Merced County: subdivision ratification and full-year permit totals

At its November 19, 2025 meeting, the Merced County Planning Commission approved Major Subdivision No. MAS24-004, dividing a 2.03-acre remainder parcel into two 1-acre parcels at the southeast corner of North Giannini Road and West Pleasant Valley Drive, with the decision ratified at the December 3, 2025 meeting, per county meeting minutes. County-wide, about 780 new private housing units were authorized by building permits in 2025, per Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED) series BPPRIV006047.

Turlock: 22-home approval on East Tuolumne Road

The Turlock Planning Commission approved a planned development and subdivision map for 22 single-family homes at 3130 E. Tuolumne Road in May 2025, per the Turlock Journal. No public construction start date had been confirmed for this project as of this writing.

Builder Incentives: What Is Currently Advertised

Builder incentives in Merced County this fall center on mortgage-rate buydowns and closing-cost or seller credits, though terms are advertised at the community level and change often. What follows is only what is publicly advertised; every figure must be confirmed with the builder.

NewHomeSource tags several Merced County communities as Hot Deal listings, including Crest View and the gated Paseo community in Merced and Florsheim Homes' Fifth Edition in Turlock. Industry research from AEI, published November 2025, found about 64 percent of new homes sold by large builders in mid-2025 included a permanent rate buydown averaging roughly 1.3 percentage points, and D.R. Horton has advertised 3.99 percent buydowns in select markets, mostly on FHA loans. Builder trade reporting notes KB Home favors transparent pricing with mortgage support negotiated per community.

Verify with the builder: rate buydown percentages, credit dollar amounts, included upgrades, and incentive end dates all change without notice. Contact each builder's sales office or visit the community page on the builder's website (for example, D.R. Horton's Amber Ridge page at drhorton.com) and ask for the current offer in writing before making any decision.

More Local Reading

For the broader development picture, read the City Development Tracker: October 2026, which covers the UC Merced Medical Education Building, Yosemite Crossing restaurants, and county road work. For the numbers behind the market, see the October 2026 Merced real estate market update and the Home Value Trends: October 2026 report. For the buyer side of new construction, the October 2026 First-Time Buyer Report covers the under-$400,000 inventory and down payment assistance.

Previous Trackers

October 2026: City Development Tracker: October 2026. Earlier editions of the New Construction Tracker will be listed here by month and year as they are published, so past trackers stay easy to find.

All developments, price ranges, timelines, and incentives in this post are drawn from builder websites, city and county permitting pages, and reputable local reporting as of publication. Figures change frequently, so verify every term directly with the builder or the permitting agency before relying on it. New homes listed here are offered to all qualified buyers on the same terms; Monica Franks provides equal professional representation to every client. To confirm a specific offer or schedule a tour, contact the builder's sales office.