Builder KB Home Reenters Mid-Atlantic Region
17 9월 2009 - 3:28AM
Dow Jones News
KB Home (KBH) is resuming home construction in its mid-Atlantic
region, which includes Maryland and Virginia, nearly two years
after stopping - a sign the company thinks the battered sector is
improving.
KB Home, the nation's fifth-largest builder by annual closings,
said it will primarily build its "Open Series," a smaller and
more-affordable product designed to compete with lower-priced
foreclosures.
Los Angeles-based KB Home - which announced its mid-Atlantic
entry at the housing market's height - also operates across
hard-hit Florida and in the Carolinas, and so the move bolsters its
Eastern-seaboard presence, it said in a statement. Standard &
Poor's Equity Research said the move confirms that the Northeast
and Mid-Atlantic markets may have stronger outlooks than the
Sunbelt or Midwest markets that were overbuilt during the boom.
"We view diversification by KBH away from the troubled Sunbelt
markets as a positive, but KBH is starting with no market share
against established builders with strong brands," analyst Kenneth
Leon noted.
During the downturn, numerous builders stopped expanding and
pulled out of weaker markets. But builders have become more
optimistic by the market's recent improvement, aided by falling
home prices, low mortgage rates and a federal tax credit of up to
$8,000 for qualified first-time buyers who close before Dec. 1.
Luxury builder Toll Brothers Inc. (TOL) entered Houston, while NVR
Inc. (NVR) is touting homes in Orlando, Fla.
Shares of KB Home recently traded up 3.1%, compared with a gain
of 3.8% for the Dow Jones US Home Construction Index.
-By Dawn Wotapka, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2193;
dawn.wotapka@dowjones.com