Affordable town houses find lots of buyers.(BUSINESS WEEKLY)

Byline: PATRICK WHITTLE patrick.whittle@heraldtribune.com

VENICE -- Development giant Lennar Corp. has found a way to sell condos in a saturated market: offer maintenance-free living on the cheap.

Lennar's 106-unit Stoneywood Cove town house project is evidence that affordability never goes out of style. The 11-building project, still under construction, has sold out its first two buildings despite an areawide housing market slowdown.

Stoneywood Cove's town houses, most of which are priced in the $190,000s, defy the dimensions of typical affordable housing. One model is a three-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bath town house with more than 1,200 square feet. Another is a 1,436-square-foot, two-bedroom model.

Lennar is able to offer the units at low cost because of …