Buy a home, get a hybrid

Car dealerships have been offering things like gas cards in attempts to sell the SUVs and large trucks clogging up their lots, as consumers search for more fuel-efficient alternatives. A similar thing appears to be happening in the suburban real-estate business.

As homebuyers, scant though they be, forgo McMansions built in city outskirts for less gas-hungry commutes near urban areas, new housing developments are becoming a harder sell. At least that’s the case in Plainville, Ill., about 40 miles outside of Chicago.

Chatham Square, a new subdivision featuring 3,000- and 4,000-square-foot homes, includes properties once priced at about a half-million dollars. Now those prices have dropped, and real-estate agents are offering peculiar incentives to attract homebuyers: $75,000 worth of free upgrades, a $200 gas card, developer-paid utility bills for five years, and, ahem, a 2009 Toyota Prius.A recent survey of 903 real-estate agents found that 78 percent of prospective homebuyers said rising fuel costs are responsible for their inclination for city life. In 2003, the average suburban household spent $1,442 per year on gas. In April 2008, the figure was $3,196 per year.