Construction

  • California Land Developer Betting on a Residential Revival

    FKC Properties has changed its name and is moving back to its long-time residential development roots.

     
  • Investors Snap Up Abandoned Phoenix Development

    While the area may be recovering, the new owners plan to hold rather than develop the property.

     
  • Modular Manufacturers Look Past Soft 2011 for Growth

    Leaders expect builders to seek prefab solutions as framers could be in short supply.

     
  • Editor's Notes: Is For-Rent For Real?

    The answer depends on the answer to another question: Is the downturn cyclical or secular?

     
  • Cover Story: The Road Goes On

    Mountain House?living proof that it's possible to rebuild the American Dream out of the stuff of nightmares.

     
  • Starts: November/December 2011

    David Weekley Homes reenters the Phoenix market with the acquisition of the bulk of local builder T.W. Lewis' lots. Plus, a look at the markets where the biggest builders' volume and share might not add up to good operating leverage.

     
  • Editor's Notes: Hail and Farewell!

    With the final issue of BIG BUILDER, a heartfelt thanks to the home building community.

     
  • On the Call: KB Home

    KB Home's impressive 40% year-over-year order growth during its fiscal third quarter had industry analysts during a related earnings call Friday asking what the company was doing right to achieve those gains even as its profitability slipped. (Click

     
  • The Wild, Wild World of Mortgage Financing

    Little more than a week and change remains before the loan limits on mortgages eligible to be purchased by the GSEs or insured by the FHA reset Oct. 1. Despite a clarion call from the NAHB and other industry groups like the NAR to lobby for an extension of the current higher limits, the efforts may...

     
  • Ninth-Circuit Court Allows Suit Against Big Builders to Proceed

    A three-judge panel from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals late Wednesday allowed a class-action suit against eight large home builders over the impact of risky mortgage lending on homeowners in planned communities to proceed. A district court judge had earlier dismissed the suit, ruling that the...

     
  • JP Morgan Downgrades Hovnanian, KB

    J.P. Morgan home-building analyst Michael Rehaut on Thursday downgraded the stock of Hovnanian Enterprises (NYSE:HOV) to "underweight" from "neutral"and that of KB Home (NYSE:KBH) to "neutral" from "overweight." At the same time, Rehaut upgraded Standard Pacific (NYSE:SPF) to "neutral" from...

     
  • Hovnanian Sticks With Growth Plan

    Hovnanian Enterprises' fiscal third quarter results beat analyst estimates, showing management's progress in improving operations for the financially strapped company. The company's quarterly loss narrowed by roughly 30% from last year to $50.9 million while the company's sales increased by a...

     
  • Hovnanian Narrows Loss, Beats Estimates

    Hovnanian Enterprises, Red Bank, N.J. (NYSE:HOV) on Wednesday after market close reported a net loss of $50.9 million (-$0.47 per share) for its fiscal third quarter ended July 31. The loss compared with a loss of $72.9 million, (-$0.92 per share) for the comparable quarter in 2010. The loss...

     
  • Big Money: Sourcing Solutions

    To centralize or to decentralize: Try the hybrid approach.

     
  • Starts: September 2011

     
  • Ryland Exits Markets to Redeploy Capital

    Today's market finds a number of public home builders under pressure to spend some of the large amount of cash they've been sitting on as the downturn has drawn out. Their cash hoards are much larger than their shrunken operations necessitate, a fact that's coming out in the interest charges many...

     
  • Ryland Exits Dallas, Jacksonville Markets

    Ryland Group, Calabasas, Calif. (NYSE:RYL) on Friday announced it is winding down operations in the Dallas and Jacksonville markets. In a brief statement, the company said it "intends to complete all the homes currently under contract with customers and market its remaining available land in these...

     
  • Analyst: Hurricane Poses Risk to Builders

    As Hurricane Irene threatened much of the U.S. East Coast Friday, Wells Fargo home-building analyst Adam Rudiger assessed the impact the storm could have on the big public builders. His conclusion: The most exposed were NVR (NYSE:NVR) and Toll Brothers (NYSE:TOL). In a research alert to investors...

     
  • After the Call: Toll Brothers

    The industry has reached a point in this down cycle where surviving it means more than just cutting costs and preserving cash. Home builder executives, even those whose companies are marginally profitable, have to figure out how to reinvest in their companies to improve and maintain profitability...

     
  • Wall St. & Maine Column

    The major stock indices were well back into the green Thursday, with the Dow closing up 423, or 3.95%; the NASDAQ up 111, or 4.6%; and the S&P up 52, or 4.6%. This after a wicked whipsawing going back to Thursday last, when the market tanked, followed by a flat Friday, a freefall Monday, a recovery...