The Builder 100 list is a barometer that charts the health and stability of the U.S. housing market. Each year, the rankings mark the ups and downs of the industry’s biggest players.
The 2019 list of the top 100 builders based on last year’s closings reflects a massive consolidation of two major companies into one entity: the merger of the country’s second-largest builder, Lennar, with CalAtlantic, which ranked No. 5 on last year’s list, lifting Lennar’s closings to 48,856. Even so, the combined numbers were not enough to unseat perennial top firm D.R. Horton from the No. 1 spot, with 52,569 closings.
As in years past, the upper echelon of the list is heavily dominated by publicly traded home builders. The list’s top 10 builders—all publics—reported just over 25,000 more closings in 2018 compared with the top 10 from the year prior.
In addition, more Builder 100 builders than ever reported doing work in the active adult market segment. Nearly half said they are involved in 55-plus home construction.
Inclusion on the list was a bit easier to achieve this year, with the No. 100 builder—Clearwater, Fla.–based Arthur Rutenberg Homes—closing 405 homes compared with the 440 closings needed to make the cut last year. However, the top 100 builders overall reported 28,952 more closings in 2018 than in 2017.
Of course, the U.S. home building industry is driven by more than just the big guns. Visit this page to see which companies made it onto our Next 100 list, made up of the country’s top up-and-coming firms.
Click here for the entire Builder 100 list and click here for a downloadable PDF.
