Ritter Ranch and Anaverde: New Construction vs Resale in West Palmdale

Which of these can you actually buy in 2026?

Anaverde is a finished west Palmdale community. You buy a resale. Joshua Ranch is a gated City Ventures community in ZIP 93551 where the builder was still offering Saddlewood in September 2026, with Sandstone and Skyridge marked sold out on the builder site. Ritter Ranch is not a tract of completed homes you can tour. The specific plan is real. The houses, as of the public record below, were not.

Why a new build can cost more per month than a resale

Builder base prices leave out incentives, and they also leave out the special tax. A resale in Anaverde already has a tax bill, an HOA statement, and closed comps. A new release often wins on condition and loses on the bond. Run both through the buyer cost sheet before you treat a lower list price as a lower payment.

City Ventures listed Saddlewood at Joshua Ranch from $699,990 on its community page when checked in September 2026. That is a builder asking range, not a closed price and not a promise it is still the number next month. One Saddlewood resale is not a market. Pull the tract.

Ritter Ranch, without the sales brochure

The Ritter Ranch Specific Plan allows a large west-side project, on the order of 7,200 units across the full plan. Los Angeles County environmental review text for Phase 1B states that no homes had been built in the specific plan area, that some Phase 1A grading and backbone roads date to 2005 and 2006, and that more infrastructure was still required. The City of Palmdale filed a notice of determination on February 18, 2025 approving the Phase 1B maps for about 627 residences. A community-facilities financing document for 2025 bonds said home construction had not commenced and that buildout was the developer's projection, not a delivery date.

Leona Valley neighbors have fought the project over traffic, water, fire hazard, and the age of the original environmental report. As of the Leona Valley Town Council's October 2025 status note, a court had barred that council from suing because of a settlement signed by an earlier board, and Edison was working on underground utilities. None of that is a model-home opening. If you want a house this year, shop Anaverde resales and whatever Joshua Ranch or other builders are actually releasing.

Schools and the west side

Anaverde and much of west Palmdale are a Highland High question, often after Westside Union, and not a Quartz Hill High guarantee. Joshua Ranch sits in 93551 as well. Confirm the address on the Highland High map. The district split is Westside Union vs AVUHSD vs Palmdale School District.

I am not the builder's on-site agent. Register with the sales office if you want their agent to write the new-home contract. I compare that contract to the resale down the street.