Housing Giants - May 23, 2008 - (Page 27)

liquid and still relatively stronger.” Reichardt cites No. 5 KB Home as the lone exception. Of the major players, KB took the most decisive action, selling off its French home building subsidiary, exiting a number of metro markets (including Chicago), and dropping its community count more than any of the other Top 25. KB also refocused its attention on its core competency, lower priced product and exited niche segments such as high-rise, mid-rise and luxury housing. “Their balance sheet is much better than two years ago,” Reichardt says. Denver-based MDC Holdings (No. 12) entered the downturn with one of the most liquid balance sheets, then moved fast to become even more like the industry’s star of land-light operations, NVR, which does not develop its own land. MDC principal officers Larry Mizel and David Mandarich brought an inherent conservatism to this crash, developed after the late 1980s maelstrom in Denver nearly deep-sixed the company. Their option-only land policy has helped MDC whittle down its lot supply and generate cash. “Now, they have more cash than debt,” Reichardt says, “the only builder other than NVR in that position.” Lennar was the first to aggressively discount pricing, a move one competitor called a “scorched earth policy” imposed early in 2006. Horton soon matched it, but Toll and No. 11 The Ryland Group never embraced it, and Pulte did so only reluctantly. Prices continue to drop, even though many builders — especially No. 14 Meritage Homes of Scottsdale, Ariz. — are now trying to stabilize prices to rebuild margins. HG GIANT 400 COVERAGE You can read more about the nation’s top builders in Professional Builder’s analysis of the Giant 400 and see a full list of the rankings at www.HousingZone.com. WWW.HOUSINGGIANTS.COM 5.23.08.HOUSING GIANTS 27 http://www.kbhome.com/ http://www.ryland.com/ http://www.meritagehomes.com/builder http://www.richmondamerican.com/About+Us/About%20Us.htm? http://www.housingzone.com/probuilder/article/CA6557755.html http://www.housingzone.com/probuilder/article/CA6557755.html http://www.housingzone.com/probuilder/index.asp?layout=giants http://www.HousingZone.com http://www.HousingGiants.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Housing Giants - May 23, 2008

Housing Giants - May 23, 2008 Contents Viewpoint & Letters News & Moves Process The Top 25

Housing Giants - May 23, 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.