The developers of Overlook Ridge built 200 luxury homes for the subdiv

Question

The developers of Overlook Ridge built 200 luxury homes for the subdivision last year. Despite beautiful views and modern amenities, however, at least two-thirds of the homes remain unsold. For their own sake, developers should scrap plans to add another 100 homes to the subdivision this year.
Which of the following, if true, would provide the greatest support for the author’s conclusion?

Which of the following, if true, would provide the greatest support for the author’s conclusion?

(A) The most recent census indicates that mean income in the area has been steadily declining over the last five years, making new home purchases unlikely.
(B) An opinion poll in the local newspaper found that most home-buyers prioritize easy access to parks over beautiful views.
(C) Homeowners currently residing in the subdivision have registered several complaints about the noise of ongoing construction.
(D) The eventual sale of another 100 homes will add greatly to the community’s tax base.
(E) The architectural style of the proposed additional homes will be slightly more adventurous, in order to lure potential buyers to the subdivision.

crick20002002 · Answer

+1 for A.

The conclusion of the argument is that Developers should cancel the plan to add 100 more homes.

Choice A directly strengthens it by suggesting that these homes are likely to remain unsold.

Crick

Dreaming · Answer

its either A or B....but because we dont really know whether the houses do suffer from lack of easy access or not, I will go with A.

sriniz · Answer

decline in the mean income would provide greatest support for why 2/3rd's of luxury homes built last year remain unsold, so the developers should rethink/scrap of building another 100 homes this year

neha2785 · Answer

Author thinks that developer are making error in adding 100 more house when they have more then 130 houses remain unsold despite houses providing best amenities and beautiful views.
What could strengthen her argument
A ) possible as it states that people have less money to purchase so wont purchase new houses 
B ) possible , people are not liking the location of the houses so staying away from purchase.

C , d , e are outside the scope of argument why developer will not be able to sell 130 + 100 new houses

B IMO stands out as a clear reason to not purchase the house, 
A ) mean income going down has an impact but B ) IMO has a best point

arvindu · Answer

+1 for A

Since B - not sure whether luxury homes are near park

thevenus · Answer

(A) The most recent census indicates that mean income in the area has been steadily declining over the last five years, making new home purchases unlikely.
 Mean income may be reducing because of increasing no.unemployment in the area, so the threat of loosing job is making people think not to buy new home. 
(B) An opinion poll in the local newspaper found that most home-buyers prioritize easy access to parks over beautiful views.
 Maybe a garden is already present inside the society or very near to the society,so this may or may not be the reason. . Two-third of the flats are unsold could not have this reason only,though most home buyers prefer to have a easy garden access but doesn't mean that most of them are from premium segment,may possible that mediocre home buyers prefer to have a garden access unlike the premium home buyers,who want privacy.
(C) Homeowners currently residing in the subdivision have registered several complaints about the noise of ongoing construction.
 construction noise is usually temporary so new prospective buys will not have any problem in buying the homes though old residents may complain. 
(D) The eventual sale of another 100 homes will add greatly to the community’s tax base.
irrelevant
(E) The architectural style of the proposed additional homes will be slightly more adventurous, in order to lure potential buyers to the subdivision.
irrelevant

IMO (A)

Kindly post the OA !

novemberain · Answer

Choice A.

I didnt go with B b/c may be the luxury homes already have easy access to park...

All other coices seems irrelevant

soumya170293 · Answer

A is the clear cut winner .

B is close but POE of B is :  We have no idea whether Overlook Ridge has sufficient parking lot according to the home buyers' wishes ; So it may or may not have . ( Out of Scope )

TheNightKing · Answer

Bunuel  can you edit the OA as A (after confirming) for this one? It is a 2011 question but somehow still doesn't have an OA.

Bunuel · Answer

__________________________
Done. Thank you.

gdatta · Answer

GMATNinja  If A is the OA, why cant we assume that homeowners can be from other regions rather than being from that region itself. The mean income of that region has only declined not for other regions

aniket16c · Answer

I will try to answer:

A "weaken" question need to be "must-be-true" statement. An "assumption" has to be a "must-be-true" statement.
In addition to that, the question asks to select a choice that provides the "greatest support" = best of the lot.

Apart from the above two reasons, I do not think there can be any explanation from passage point of view.

Hope that the explanation helps!

uc26 · Answer

Hi  nightblade354 ,

I am unable to understand why A is the correct answer here. Even if the mean income in area has been declining in the past 5 years, that doesn't imply that there cannot be buyers from outside the area. A seems to have this assumption that the buyers are from the same area as the area of the property.
Could you please me know your thoughts?

Thanks and Regards,
Udit

nightblade354 · Answer

You are absolutely correct that this assumes that people are buyers only from the area; this is in no way an air-tight question. But how large is that area? Maybe it is the entire state? Further, we have to eliminate every other answer choice because they are just so wrong. Which answer choice tripped you up? I will admit that OG questions should be air-tight, or close to it, so good catch on your part. Unless "subdivision" means "built for the community's members", this leaves room for interpretation and makes you assume only people in the surrounding area can purchase a home. Even more of a reach would be that EVERY place in the country is experiencing the same income reduction and thus cannot purchase a home. Either way, it is indeed flawed unless there is more to the question.

uc26 · Answer

Hi,

Thank you for your reply. 
Since i had rejected A based on the above logic, i settled with C trying to reason that if the existing residents complain about the noise of the ongoing construction that would discourage new home purchases. I know i may have again made several assumptions while using such reasoning like the complaints would have such an impact on new home buyers and that new home buyers even care about such a noise more than the beautiful views and the modern amenities that the luxury homes have to offer.

Regards,
Udit

altairahmad · Answer

So relieved to know that I am not the only one who rejected A and chose C for exactly the same reasons !

Would also like to hear expert opinion on your comments.

mba757 · Answer

Hello experts!

One quick question: why is B wrong? Is it because don't know if these homes are near parks already? While A, we know for sure that the income has been steadily declining for large bulk of the population, making it difficult for consumers to buy new homes (with less income).

vivek2611 · Answer

The developers of Overlook Ridge built 200 luxury homes for the subdivision last year. Despite beautiful views and modern amenities, however, at least two-thirds of the homes remain unsold. For their own sake, developers should scrap plans to add another 100 homes to the subdivision this year.
Which of the following, if true, would provide the greatest support for the author’s conclusion?

developers built homes. 
homes remained unsold
Author says that the developers should scrap future build plans.

Looking for something that strengthens author's conclusion.
Option A perfectly fits the bill as it says future sales are unlikely.

vivek2611 · Answer

The developers of Overlook Ridge built 200 luxury homes for the subdivision last year. Despite beautiful views and modern amenities, however, at least two-thirds of the homes remain unsold. For their own sake, developers should scrap plans to add another 100 homes to the subdivision this year.
Which of the following, if true, would provide the greatest support for the author’s conclusion?

developers built homes. 
homes remained unsold
Author says that the developers should scrap future build plans.

Looking for something that strengthens author's conclusion.
Option A perfectly fits the bill as it says future sales are unlikely.

The developers of Overlook Ridge built 200 luxury homes for the subdiv

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The developers of Overlook Ridge built 200 luxury homes for the subdiv

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615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

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