D.R. Horton used size to start more homes
Posted by Michael Pannell on Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010 at 4:37pm.New home starts in North Texas fell almost 50 percent last year. But even in the face of the huge decline, some builders grew.
Fort Worth-based D.R. Horton Inc. took advantage of the depressed housing market to expand market share and build more homes, a company-by-company look at 2009 home starts in Dallas-Fort Worth shows.
Horton increased its home starts in the D-FW area by 20 percent in 2009 and is now about the size of the next three largest North Texas builders combined, according to data provided by Residential Strategies Inc.
"They have blown everybody else away," said Ted Wilson, a principal with the Dallas-based housing analyst. "And they have done this across Texas, not just in the D-FW area."
In 2009, Horton started about 2,289 homes in North Texas, Residential Strategies statistics show. That lifted the company's market share to about 17 percent from less than 10 percent in 2008.
"They had a pretty aggressive building campaign last fall," Wilson said. "They are taking advantage of the lack of financing out there for many builders to get market share."
Horton officials did not return calls for comment.
The next three largest builders – Pulte-Centex, Highland-Huntington and Meritage-Legacy – all reduced their starts in the D-FW area last year.
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There are a lot of builders that have gone into bankruptcy, however the builders that are strong enough to survive are able to get some great land positions. New Construction is a great deal for the consumer right now. In addition, 2.5 local jobs per year attained for every new home built.
Posted on Sunday, February 7th, 2010 at 10:21 AM.