Developers are starting work on the first of six condominium buildings planned for Keller Springs Road in Far North Dallas.

Homes in the four-story buildings in the Lawn at Glen Abbey community will start at around $700,000.

Hawkins-Welwood Homes is doing the condo project and two others in partnership with developer Folsom Properties. In addition to the condominiums, the builders are doing an adjoining complex of patio homes and another 75-acre residential community in Plano.

“We were interested in purchasing the land, as was Folsom Properties, and they called and said, ‘Why don’t we do it together?’ ” said builder Curt Welwood about the 20-acre site on Keller Springs.

Sales at major new-home communities in parts of Southern California picked up in April as Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties bucked statewide trends to post gains from the previous month, an industry report Friday showed.

Still, April’s sales figures remained weaker throughout the state compared with a year earlier, with total sales falling 40%, the California Building Industry Assn. said.

And after holding steady for several months, median asking prices fell 6.2% statewide as builders slashed prices to move unsold inventory.