If you’ve been combing the Denver area for attainably priced space for a growing family — or for one of those elusive ranch plans as a replacement for your dated two-story house — Meritage Homes has a community near DIA that can alter your outlook today.

Buffalo Highlands by Meritage Homes in Commerce City Where: Buffalo Highlands in Commerce City by Meritage, family-sized homes at attainable prices, ranch plans, super energy-efficient design; 3-car garage option; some homes including ranches for summer move-in. 9395 Quintero St., Commerce City, from Peña Blvd (DIA Freeway) exit at Tower Road, turn north 2-1/2 miles to E. 96th Ave, turn left (west) to Landmark Drive and follow Meritage signs; or from I-76 take 96th east 6 miles.

Buffalo Highlands in Commerce City by Meritage, family-sized homes at attainable prices, ranch plans, super energy-efficient design; 3-car garage option; some homes including ranches for summer move-in. 9395 Quintero St., Commerce City, from Peña Blvd (DIA Freeway) exit at Tower Road, turn north 2-1/2 miles to E. 96th Ave, turn left (west) to Landmark Drive and follow Meritage signs; or from I-76 take 96th east 6 miles. Price: From $388,000

From $388,000 When: Today, 10 a.m. until 6 p.m.

Today, 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. Phone: 303-406-4300

303-406-4300 More Info: MeritageHomes.com

Buyer traffic at new home areas almost always dies off during the vacation months. But not at Buffalo Highlands, west of Tower Road on 96th. Prices there are just too low.

“There’s nothing like this for the size or quality,” says Meritage’s Eryn Spencer, who will show you ranch and two-story models, plus a few new homes that can deliver right now, one of them a three-bedroom 2-1/2 bath design at $399,940.

In the brisk market near DIA, where buyers are wanting out of older homes in Thornton or Commerce City or looking to commute to the Gaylord Rockies Resort or the Anschutz Medical Campus, Spencer still meets buyers who arrive with horror stories about bidding wars — one last week who had bid on an older ranch plan against 10 competing offers.

For that buyer, Meritage has a Willow ranch set to deliver this month, with three bedrooms and two baths, plus a daylight garden-level basement and a deck opening from the entertaining area, priced to sell now at $399,940 — no bidding required.

Like all Meritage homes, it has the builder’s signature energy package including polyurethane foam insulation that not only insulates better, but keeps a home less drafty, and cleaner, too (you can see a ceiling cut-out in the ranch model home that shows how that works).

That’s just the start of Meritage’s features, including a high-efficiency dual-zoned furnace and low-E windows to reduce heat transmission. The energy savings, Spencer says, are good news for buyers downsizing from older house,; and all the more so for younger families looking to size up.

“There are families renting out there that don’t realize they can own,” Spencer adds. “People are surprised they can do it, particularly if they need a bigger home with more bedrooms. You can afford that here.”

For just that buyer, Meritage has a Golden Gate plan, four bedrooms, 3-1/2 baths, with 3,100 square feet of finished space, plus a full basement and a full-wide three-car garage. It’s loaded with options including a fireplace and an extended hardwood floor package on the main level. It’s priced at $488,000, and Meritage can have it ready before Christmas.

You’ll see why some buyers are using the E-470 beltway for a quick commute from here west to north Thornton, Westminster or Flatirons; there’s a 470 interchange right on East 96th Avenue, a little over a mile east of here. From the DIA Freeway, exit at Tower Road, turn north on Tower 2-1/2 miles to East 96th Avenue, then turn left (west) to Landmark Drive. Or from I-76, take 96th east 6 miles.

The news and editorial staffs of The Denver Post had no role in this post’s preparation.