Livermore Builders Are Discounting the Mortgage Rate. Here's What That Does to Resale Townhomes
The two lowest rates on Livermore's new condos and townhomes this fall come from builders. Both are seven-year adjustable-rate mortgages, and both come through a lender the builder picks. Trumark is advertising a 5.250% note rate at Arroyo Crossings. Shea Homes is offering a 5.75% note rate with a temporary buydown at Serenity. The national benchmark is much higher: Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey put the 30-year fixed average at 7.24% for the week of October 29, 2026. The builder rates aren't a fixed 30-year loan at a lower price, though. They're a different kind of loan.
That difference matters to anyone weighing a new townhome against a resale one, because builders are cutting the rate and mostly leaving the price alone. A resale seller in the same price range can't offer that, and in a segment carrying about five months of supply, the monthly payment is often what decides the sale.
The fine print on both builder pages tells you more than the headline rate does. Here are the two side by side, using each builder's published disclosure.
| Trumark, Arroyo Crossings | Shea Homes, Serenity | |
|---|---|---|
| Loan type | 7/6 ARM | 7/6 ARM with a 2-1 temporary buydown |
| Note rate / APR | 5.250% / 5.993% | 5.75% / 6.594% |
| How the rate gets there | Example assumes 1.142% in discount points paid at closing | Seller prepays part of the first two years of payments into a custodial escrow account |
| Payment rate, years 1 and 2 | 5.250% | 3.75% in year 1, 4.75% in year 2 |
| Lender | Icon Lending, a Trumark affiliate | Shea's designated preferred lender, U.S. Bank |
| After year 7 | Adjusts every 6 months at 30-Day Average SOFR plus 2.75% | Adjusts every 6 months at 30-Day Average SOFR plus 2.75% |
| Rate caps | 1% at first adjustment, 1% per later adjustment, 5% lifetime; maximum 10.250% | Up to 5% at first adjustment, 1% per later adjustment, 5% lifetime; maximum 10.75% |
| Deadlines | Purchase agreement by 11/30/26, close by 12/31/26 | Purchase agreement by 12/6/26, close by 1/1/27 |
Trumark's disclosure adds several limits. The offer applies only to select new-construction homes bought as a primary residence. FHA and VA loans aren't eligible. The rate has to be locked within 10 days of application, and funds go first-come, first-served while they last. Trumark advertises the rate on select homes in all four Arroyo Crossings collections: Alicante, Solera, Amara and Verdello. On Shea's Serenity page, the incentive is worth up to $46,500 and covers select quick move-in homes. The page also says buyers can decline the incentive and use any lender they like.
At the first adjustment, Trumark's rate can rise by at most 1%, and Shea's can rise by up to 5%.
Trumark's disclosure includes a worked example: a $1,385,331 purchase with 20% down, a $1,108,264 loan and a 780 credit score. That gives three monthly principal-and-interest figures:
Taxes, insurance, HOA dues and mortgage insurance aren't included in any of those figures. At Serenity, Shea lists HOA dues of $412 a month. They cover association management, building and common-area insurance, common-area utilities, landscaping, private-street maintenance and common-area repairs.
The Serenity buydown is worth up to $46,500 on a loan Shea's own example sets at a $871,208 purchase price. Cutting the price by that much would change the number every later buyer in the community sees first. Prepaying two years of interest leaves the advertised price where it was. Serenity is still listed "from $775,000," with floor plans from 1,582 to 2,395 square feet. Trumark says the same thing directly: "The base home price is the same regardless of the lender selected."
The financing route has a cost, though. Trumark's disclosure says the rate offer "may not be combined with other seller incentives." Where a builder has cut a price, the buyer generally picks one discount or the other. Trumark has cut at least one price. At Verdello, homesite 75 at 4686 Vilana Street is a three-story, four-bedroom, 2,340-square-foot move-in-ready home, and its price dropped from $1,423,928 to $1,287,128, a reduction of $136,800. Price cuts on finished, unsold homes like this one happen alongside the rate offer.
Arroyo Crossings is large enough for this to affect the whole market. The community is planned for 435 homes across its four collections at 4802 Las Positas Road. Trumark's listed starting prices are $699,000 at Alicante, $859,000 at Solera, $945,000 at Amara and $1.23 million at Verdello. Serenity sits at the northeast corner of Portola Avenue and Collier Canyon Road, according to the City of Livermore's project page.
Livermore's condo and townhome market and its detached-home market behaved very differently in September 2026. In the Bay East Association of REALTORS® September 2026 report for Livermore condos and townhomes, there were 51 active listings at month's end and 7 sales, about five months of inventory. Bay East's detached-home report for the same month shows 111 active listings, 1.8 months of supply, a $1.2 million median and 23 average days on market. Detached sales were up 18% from September 2025.
So in September 2026, a resale house in Livermore had roughly a third as much competition, measured in months of supply, as a resale townhome. And the townhome seller is also competing with builders who can buy down the rate.
The condo and townhome median needs some care. September's median was $625,000, 8.49% below September 2025. August's was $810,000, on 12 sales. A median based on seven sales moves around depending on which seven units closed, so a single month's figure doesn't show what a given unit is worth. Other September 2026 figures are steadier. Sold homes averaged $475 per square foot, active listings were asking an average of $523, and homes that did sell closed at 100% of list after an average of 35 days. Homes priced in line with recent sales are selling at their asking price, while many listed above that level are still waiting.
Statewide, the California Association of REALTORS® September 2026 report put the condo and townhome unsold-inventory index at 4.8 months, with a median of $640,000, down 1.5% year over year. By that measure, Livermore's attached segment is slightly slower than the state average, while its detached segment is much faster.
Price ranges show where the two compete directly. Through September, 115 Livermore condos and townhomes had sold in 2026, up from 106 at the same point in 2025. Most of them fell in the middle of the market:
Those 77 sales between $600,000 and $899,999 fall in the same range as Alicante's $699,000 start, Serenity's $775,000 start and Solera's $859,000 start. In that range, a resale townhome usually competes against a new home with a 5.25% or 5.75% note rate attached. Above $900,000, resale sales thin out quickly, and Amara and Verdello face fewer resale rivals.
For a resale seller, the useful comparison is the monthly payment a buyer would have on the new unit nearby, more than the new unit's list price. In late October, Livermore Vine quoted Bay East president Bill Espinola: "Pricing it right from the start matters more than ever." In Livermore's condo and townhome market this fall, a resale seller in that range is setting a price against builder financing as well as against other listings.
For a buyer, the comparison involves more than one variable. The new unit offers a lower starting rate on an adjustable loan, through a lender the builder chose, with a deadline before the end of the year. The resale unit can be financed any way the buyer likes, often comes from a seller facing roughly five months of competing inventory, and costs no more than the price both sides agree on.
No. Both builders say you can buy with any lender. Trumark says its promotional rate is available only through Icon Lending, and Shea says its incentive depends on using its designated preferred lender.
Under Shea's published terms, the payment rate is 2 points below the 5.75% note rate in year one and 1 point below it in year two, then returns to 5.75% through the end of year seven. After that, it adjusts every six months at the 30-Day Average SOFR plus a 2.75% margin. Shea listed that SOFR average at 3.761% as of 10/2/26.
Not under their current terms. Trumark requires a signed purchase agreement by 11/30/26 and closing by 12/31/26. Shea requires a signed agreement by 12/6/26 and closing by 1/1/27. Both say terms can change without notice.
The loan terms above come from the builders' own published disclosures and are general information, not financial, tax or legal advice. Check your own numbers with a licensed lender and the right professional before you sign anything.
If you're deciding between a new townhome with a builder rate and a resale unit a few streets away, or pricing a Livermore condo while builders compete on payment, Evolve Real Estate can lay the two monthly costs side by side and help you negotiate from them. Get Your Quote, and we'll start with the payment math.
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