Hawai'i homebuilder Gentry Homes will hold an open house this weekend for the most expensive subdivision developed to date on the 'Ewa Plain.

With price tags from roughly $950,000 to $1.3 million and features such as granite counters, Viking appliances and three-car garages, Gentry's Cypress Point enclave of 27 luxury homes shows how demand for high-end housing over the past few years has rubbed off on a region largely known for tightly spaced starter homes and chronic traffic.

"It's crazy out there," said Teresita Garcia, a real-estate agent whose business has focused on Leeward O'ahu since 1985. The new Gentry homes are even more expensive than those in Waikele, Garcia said.

The 'Ewa Plain in recent decades has become O'ahu's primary urban growth zone for largely first-time buyers willing to trade long, congested commutes into town for the opportunity to own a new single-family house.

The median price of previously owned single-family homes sold on the 'Ewa Plain in the first half of the year was $530,000, which was $100,000 below the O'ahu median and the second-lowest behind Makaha-Nanakuli and Wahiawa, according to Honolulu Board of Realtors data.

But the trend may be changing as more new homes in the region are built and sold at luxury prices.

At the master-planned 'Ewa community Ocean Pointe, developer Haseko Homes has a luxury home line featuring five bedrooms, spiral staircases and grand front porches selling for $937,000. With upgrades, the price for Haseko's Manor Homes can cost $980,000.

Richard Dunn, executive vice president for Haseko Realty, said the company expects to offer million-dollar homes in late 2007 or mid-2008, depending on market conditions.

Rick Hobson, Gentry's sales and marketing vice president, said the Cypress Point project represents an evolution in progressively higher-end homes developed at the master-planned 'Ewa by Gentry community.

An earlier Gentry subdivision called WoodBridge sold out at the start of this year for average prices around $750,000. The developer followed that in February with Haleakea, a project of 170 homes with 2,100 square feet to almost 3,000 square feet of living space mostly priced from $650,000 to $850,000. Of 45 Haleakea homes released for sale to date, 42 have sold, including one for $916,000.

"Our bread and butter has always been first-time home buyers, but over the years that has changed," Hobson said. "Every community has million-dollar homes in it now."

Margarita Secretario, an 'Ewa by Gentry resident who bought her home new in 1999 for about $355,000, said she's not surprised that Gentry is building million-dollar luxury residences today.

"My neighbors have their own businesses," she said. "Some are millionaires. Only me not millionaire."

Secretario, a retiree, has her six-bedroom house on the market for a little under $800,000.

Garcia, principal broker of Garcia Properties, said most 'Ewa homes historically have been bought by first- or second-time home buyers. But with growing numbers of homes priced so high, she expects fewer young families will populate the area.

"Will our local people afford that?" she asked, noting that many sales of homes for $1 million or more in places like upper Makakilo have been to out-of-state buyers.

Hobson said 'Ewa by Gentry, which has sold roughly 6,000 of 7,200 planned homes, has built up a demand for purchases of bigger homes by existing residents looking to move up, and that he expects most Cypress Point buyers will be from the area and other parts of O'ahu.

The Cypress Point homes range from about 2,500 square feet to 3,500 square feet, with three to five bedrooms on 7,000-square-foot lots, compared with more typical 5,000-square-foot lots.

Hobson said four homes — two fronting the Hawaii Prince Golf Course and two with unobstructed mountain views — are under construction and should be finished in October.

The four homes will be made available for sale on Aug. 12, possibly through a lottery if there are too many qualified interested buyers. Applications will be accepted starting this weekend at Gentry's sales office at 91-1307 Kuano'o St. near a model Cypress Point home.

Gentry Homes, founded by Tom Gentry, has built about 14,000 homes in Hawai'i over nearly 40 years, including 'Ewa by Gentry and Waipi'o by Gentry. The company also plans to develop 10,000 to 12,000 homes in Waiawa.

Hobson said he doesn't expect Gentry to exceed the luxury of Cypress Point in future subdivisions at 'Ewa by Gentry.

"I think that this is a one-shot deal," he said. "I think this will be the most luxurious street in 'Ewa by Gentry."

Reach Andrew Gomes at agomes@honoluluadvertiser.com.