By Andrea Riquier
Copyright ©2016 MarketWatch, Inc. All rights reserved.
One of America’s biggest builders is seeing sales of first-time buyer homes surge – but it’s not just millennials snatching up the homes.
Older buyers, including retirees, are buying more of D.R. Horton DHI, +0.50% entry-priced “Express” homes, the builder said on an earnings call Thursday.
Express accounted for 28% of D.R. Horton’s closings and 20% of its revenue in the most recent quarter, the company said. It’s increased the number of markets where those homes are available, and executives think there’s still a lot of room to grow.
“We commented in prior quarters about markets like Florida where there are perhaps more retirees,” CFO Bill Wheat told analysts. “We have seen more of larger mix of older buyers buying the Express Homes because they see the same value there.”
Many economists believe there’s still room to grow market share of true first-time buyers, as well. The National Association of Realtors said Thursday that first-timers made up 33% of all buyers of previously-owned homes, an improvement over recent months, but still well below the ... Read the entire article at the MarketWatch website
