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NEWS BULLETIN

                                                      MONTEREY HOMES CORPORATION
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William W. Cleverly
Chairman and Co-CEO
Steven J. Hilton
President and Co-CEO
6613 North Scottsdale Road, #200
Scottsdale, Arizona  85250
602/998-8700  FAX 602/998-9162


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


                           MONTEREY HOMES CORPORATION
              (FORMERLY HOMEPLEX MORTGAGE INVESTMENTS CORPORATION)
              ANNOUNCES MERGER, NAME CHANGE AND REVERSE STOCK SPLIT


         SCOTTSDALE,  ARIZONA, January 3, 1997 - Monterey Homes Corporation (the
"Company")  (NYSE Symbol - MTH) announced  today the successful  completion of a
merger with Monterey Homes  Construction II, Inc. and Monterey Homes Arizona II,
Inc. (the "Monterey  Entities"),  a group of privately held companies engaged in
the  homebuilding  business in Phoenix,  Scottsdale  and  Tucson,  Arizona.  The
parties had previously announced the execution of a definitive merger agreement,
which was approved by the Company's  stockholders during its annual meeting held
on December 23, 1996.

         Effective with the December 31, 1996  consummation  of the merger,  the
Company  changed its name from  Homeplex  Mortgage  Investments  Corporation  to
Monterey Homes  Corporation  and its New York Stock Exchange  ticker symbol from
HPX to MTH. In addition,  concurrent  with the merger,  a one for three  reverse
stock split was effected.

         The merger involved the issuance of approximately 1.3 million shares of
Company  stock  resulting  in the  outstanding  stock  of the  Company  reaching
approximately 4.5 million shares.
Approximately  267,000  additional  shares of  Company  stock,  contingent  upon
reaching certain trading prices, and options to purchase  approximately  334,000
shares of Company  stock at $5.25 per share were  granted in the  merger.  These
rights and options,  coupled with existing  stock  options,  could result in the
issuance of  approximately  an additional  1.0 million  shares of Company stock.
(Note: All share and per share amounts are on a post-reverse split basis).

         Mr.  William W. Cleverly and Mr. Steven J. Hilton,  the prior owners of
the  Monterey  Entities,  have  been  elected  and will  serve as  Chairman  and
President,   respectively,  and  Co-Chief  Executive  Officers  of  the  Company
beginning January 1, 1997, under five year employment  contracts.  The new board
will consist of Messrs.  Cleverly and Hilton, the immediate prior Chairman, Alan
Hamberlin, and two new outside directors, Robert G. Sarver and C. Timothy White.

         The transaction resulted in the termination of the Company's tax status
as a  real  estate  investment  trust,  although,  it is  anticipated  that  the
Company's  $58.0 million net  operating  loss  carryforward  will continue to be
available to the Company after the merger.

         The Company  will  continue  with the  homebuilding  operations  of the
Monterey  Entities  as its main  line of  business  and will  withdraw  from the
residual and real estate lending business.

         Bill Cleverly,  Chairman and Co-CEO of the Company,  stated: "With this
merger,  Monterey Homes  Corporation  enters a new era. We plan to re-deploy the
capital of the Company to grow our existing Arizona homebuilding  operations and
expand   geographically   into  other  markets  which  present  superior  profit
potential."

         For questions regarding this press release,  please call Larry W. Seay,
Chief Financial Officer of the Company at (602) 998-8700.