Homebuilders expect fewer home starts in 2007

Dallas Business Journal

by Christine Perez

Staff Writer

Dallas-Fort Worth builders expect to cut home starts back 2% in 2007, according to a survey conducted by Residential Strategies Inc.

Builders that specialize in homes priced under $175,000 say they'll start 7% fewer homes next year; those in the $250,000+ category are planning to cut starts by 4%. Only builders in the $175,000 to $250,000 group are planning to increase production, by about 9%.

Competition, margins, buyer traffic, lot price increases and cancellations are the top builder concerns for 2007. Top reason for buyer fallouts? Many are continuing to shop after putting homes under contract, the builders say, and relocation buyers are having a more difficult time selling their existing homes in other parts of the country.

Two-thirds of the builders anticipate optioning more lots in 2007, with an average increase of 18% over 2006. However, they're quick to point out that they'll only buy and develop in the right locations, with infill sites being popular.

On the good news side, the Dallas-Fort Worth market is seeing more relocation buyers -- up by 25% in 2006 over 2005.

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2,100-acre project headed to Prosper

Developer plans thousands of homes, commercial space

11:24 AM CST on Thursday, November 2, 2006

By STEVE BROWN / The Dallas Morning News

Forest City Enterprises – the real estate developer redoing downtown Dallas' historic Mercantile Bank Building – plans to build a 2,100-acre community in the town of Prosper.

The development on U.S. Highway 380 at Fields Road north of Frisco will include thousands of homes plus commercial space.

Cleveland-based Forest City is developing the project in partnership with the Mahard family, which has been a major landowner in the area for decades.

"We do regional master planned community development around the country, and we are very excited about the opportunity here," said Dean Wingert, Forest City's project developer.

"We plan a mixed-use development with a variety of residential types and amenities. There will be commercial development opportunities as well," he said.

Mr. Wingert said construction on utilities and streets on the property won't start sooner than late next year.

"We would like to move forward as quickly as possible," he said. "We have a great deal of entitlement work to do with the local community.

"There is a tremendous amount of design work to go through, too."

Leaders of the one-time farming town of almost 6,000 say they are glad to get Forest City as a builder.

"To have somebody of the nature of Forest City is huge," said Douglas C. Mousel, town administrator.

"It's always been my hope that we would see a single entity come in and develop a master planned community on that property, rather than a bunch of smaller developments."

The Mahard family has used the land as part of its Prosper egg farm operations and for other agricultural uses. Mahard Egg Farm is one of the country's largest egg producers.

Prosper's population increased by almost 30 percent last year, making it the fastest-growing community in North Texas, according to town officials. The town had 500 residents when it incorporated in 1914.

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O.k., I know this makes for a boring post, but I'd like to have at least some links to my blog on Technorati.com, and you may be interested in visiting my other blogs and websites, so here they are:

AggressiveHomeSales.com : This is the main website for Brian Marsh & Associates of Virginia Cook. Here, you can search all homes for sale in North Texas, learn about the home buying and selling process, see our 20 Point Aggressive Home Marketing Plan that helps us to sell homes in just 30 days, and find out why we call our site AggressiveHomeSales.com

6Below is my personal blog regarding : Subsurface thoughts and ideas on Business Effeciency
If you're into business, you'll probably find it interesting, if you're not, you won't.

FriscoRealEstateBlog.com is like this site, but about Frisco Real Estate. If you're considering McKinney, you should consider Frisco, and vice versa.

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You may have stumbled upon this site when searching for "McKinney," and thought "What's the point?"

Well, I have asked myself that question, and the point is, that McKinney, Texas is a really quickly growing city with lots of interesting happenings in real estate. Whether you are contemplating a move to McKinney, live here, or want to invest in McKinney, this is a place to find out more about what's moving and shaking in McKinney, Texas. Additionally, this is a place to contribute. While I'd like to think that I'm always "in the know" as a Realtor in McKinney, there is just way too much going on, and of course, that is what makes McKinney a vibrant city to live in. So if you have some scoop, an interesting gripe, or a dynamic idea concerning Real Estate in this exploding town, chime in!

And of course, if you'd like to buy or sell real estate in McKinney, well then I'd be much ablidged if you'd contact me!

Brian Marsh
Brian Marsh & Associates
Virginia Cook, Realtors
www.AggressiveHomeSales.Com
214.520.4188

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