D.R. Horton tops Builder's list of 100 largest homebuilding companies for 10th consecutive year, closing 18,983 homes in 2010; PulteGroup in second with 17,095 closings for the year, followed by Lennar with 10,955 closings

Michelle Rivera

WASHINGTON , May 12, 2011 (press release) – BUILDER, the leading media brand for the home building industry, this week unveiled the BUILDER 100, its annual ranking of the 100 largest home building companies. D.R. Horton topped the list for the 10th straight year.

Ft. Worth, Texas-based Horton closed 18,983 homes during the 2010 calendar year, nearly 2,000 more than second-ranked PulteGroup, with 17,095 closings. The top two companies in the industry separated themselves from the pack, with Horton selling 42 percent more homes than third-ranked Lennar, which reported 10,955 closings.

The top 100 home builders outperformed the overall market last year. The U.S. Census Bureau reported 323,000 hew home sales and 31,000 for-sale multifamily completions in 2010, a 14 percent decline, and the lowest numbers on record. The typical BUILDER 100 company closed 1,537 homes last year, a 5 percent decline over 2009’s closings. BUILDER 100 companies recorded an average $421 million in revenue, 2 percent less than in 2009.

The result was a big increase in market share. BUILDER 100 companies saw their aggregate share of closings of for-sale units rise in 2010 by 6.7 percentage points to 43.42 percent. That’s the highest share of market since 2006 and the second highest in a decade.

In addition, the top 10 builders captured nearly one-quarter of all closings (including condos) in 2010, versus one-fifth in 2009. All but one of the top 10 builders are public companies. Sixth-ranked Habitat for Humanity International, a non-profit, is the exception.

“It’s interesting that more than half of BUILDER 100 companies managed to increase sales or revenues last year,” said Boyce Thompson, BUILDER’s editorial director. “The majority of them were concentrated in Texas, the Carolinas, and the Mid-Atlantic, a testament to the relative health of those markets.”

The BUILDER 100 is compiled from data collected by BUILDER magazine via direct survey of the nation’s top builders. The BUILDER 100 (and the Next 100) list is comprised of both private and public builders and identifies the top home builders in America by annual closings, gross revenue, and rate of change year over year, as well as information about where and what they build.

BUILDER magazine has been conducting the survey and compiling the list since 1984. The BUILDER 100 is profiled extensively in the May 2011 issue of BUILDER magazine and on BUILDERONLINE.com. This year’s honorees also will be recognized at a special 25th anniversary awards event at the 2011 Housing Leadership Summit on May 24 in Chicago. For more information about the 2010 BUILDER 100 rankings, visit http://www.builderonline.com/builder100/2010.aspx.

About BUILDER
Published by Hanley Wood, BUILDER is the leading brand in residential new construction and serves as the magazine of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). For more than three decades, BUILDER has provided essential news, information and resources about products, technologies, trends, regulatory requirements and best practices to help home building professionals navigate challenges for success. With an integrated media platform encompassing print, online and in-person, BUILDER is a trusted source for top builders, architects and other industry professionals across the country.

About Hanley Wood, LLC
Hanley Wood is a leading business-to-business media company focused on the residential and commercial construction and design industries. Its diverse portfolio includes magazines, Web sites, e-newsletters, exhibitions and conferences, custom marketing and data services.

Hanley Wood is comprised of four operating platforms: Business Media, which publishes more than 30 magazines along with related Web sites, e-newsletters, and conferences; Exhibitions, which produces marquee events such as World of Concrete, bringing residential and commercial construction professionals face-to-face with manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, and service providers; Market Intelligence, which collects and aggregates proprietary data sets that capture hundreds of pieces of profile and material information about housing developments in more than 75 housing markets; and Marketing, which plans, creates, and executes strategic and integrated marketing solutions for its clients. http://www.hanleywood.com.

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