Tarrant Business

Village Homes buys eight lots in Fort Worth's exclusive Montserrat neighborhood

Village Homes in Fort Worth has bought eight of the final 14 lots in Montserrat in far southwest Fort Worth.

The firm, owned by Micheal Dike and James Harris, have already built 25 homes in Montserrat. The 30-acre development of the Siratt family began in 2004 with 208 lots.

Village Homes said it will build homes on the new lots ranging in size from 3,000 square feet to 5,000 square feet and from $550,000 to $850,000.

"We are delighted to have reached this agreement because Montserrat is recognized for its unique character, commitment to homes of exceptional character, and and unmatched quality of life," Dike said.

Village Homes said it has completed about 350 homes in the greater Fort Worth area since it was founded in 1996.

_ Sandra Baker

Lennar Corp. to begin homebuilding in Riverwalk development in Euless

EULESS — National homebuilder Lennar Corp. has bought 49 acres at the northwest corner of Airport Freeway and Texas 360 in Euless, the first land acquisition in the planned Riverwalk development since the project was announced nearly two years ago, the company said Wednesday.

Lennar said it will debut its new, more upscale home designs in the development, with home prices starting in low $300,000’s.

"Our Riverwalk homes will comprise the first of several new developments in the region where we will debut a new, upgraded product line that encompasses higher quality details and amenities in addition to a more upmarket architectural design," said Greg UrechÖ , Lennar’s land operations director in a statement. "We are proud to deliver a residential product that will appeal to today’s demanding Dallas-Fort Worth-area homebuyer."

Lennar bought the land from Dallas-based Stratford Land Co., which bought a 194-acre tract in April 2011 from a California real estate company that owned the property since 1993. A fashion mall was once planned for the site, but Stratford said it wanted to develop the tract for homes, shopping and hike-and-bike trails with a signature riverwalk feature.

"When Stratford acquired the property in 2011, we knew the location was exceptional," said Steve SandersÖ , Stratford Land’s senior investment manager for Texas. "Lennar’s decision to build at this location affirms our investment, and we are excited to see the residential area of Riverwalk come to life."

Groundbreaking on the first homes is scheduled for this summer, with a model home open by the first quarter of 2014, Lennar said. The company said it will initially build 200 homes, but that it has an option to double the number of homes.

Stratford said it is also talking with potential buyers for Riverwalk’s multifamily tracts. The company said it expects sales of the commercial tracts to happen soon thereafter. About 70 acres is set aside for commercial development.

When completed, Riverwalk will have approximately 480 single-family homes, 250 town houses and at least 500 apartments, as well as shops and restaurants.

The land stretches from Airport Freeway on the south, to Harwood Road on the north, Texas 360 on the east to near Fuller-Wiser Road on the west. Midway Drive bisects the tract east to west. During the 1990s, the Bear Creek Fashion Mall was proposed for the site, but never built.

_ Sandra Baker

Acme Brick reopening Parker County plant after three years of being closed

In a sign of the improving economy and homebuilding market, Fort Worth-based Acme Brick Co. has reopened it plant in Bennett, just west of Weatherford, this week.

The facility had been shuttered since 2009.

"Over the course of the past year, we have seen a rebirth of activity here in the Metroplex with construction now totaling 83 million square feet and forecasted to rise by double digits in 2013," said Dennis Knautz, Acme president and CEO. "Given the recovering construction sector and the strong demand seen at other Acme plants, we believed that it is an absolute necessity to restart operations at this facility in order to have an adequate spring supply of brick for our homebuilder customers."

Acme said it also restarted a third kiln at its Texas Clay plant in Malakoff, near Athens, in December because that plant saw increased demand in 2012.

The Bennett plant was built in 1996 on the site of the company’s first brick making facility. That plant began making hard-fired bricks in 1891.

Homebuilding peaked in 2006 with construction activity reaching 182 million square feet of space, Acme said.

"We witnessed demand plummet by nearly 70 percent to a low of only 57 million square feet by the start of 2011," Knautz said. "I believe we can finally say with confidence that our local homebuilding market is back."

The Bennett plant has the capacity to produce 2 million residential brick a week, or enough brick for 150 average-sized homes, Acme said.

Acme was acquired by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway in 2000.

_ Sandra Baker

Higher 2012 profit boosts compensation for top two D.R. Horton execs

Top officers at Fort Worth-based D.R. Horton didn't get a raise in base salary in 2012, but the home builder's chairman and its CEO each saw their total pay increase, according to its latest proxy statement filed Thursday. Chairman Don Horton's total compensation was $5.9 million, and CEO Don Tomnitz's was $5.2 million. Don Horton's total compensation was up 33 percent from a year ago, and Tomnitz' was up 32 percent.

Both executives received sharply higher incentive awards that are based on the company's pre-tax income, which soared from a year ago.  Don Horton and Tomnitz each were awarded 1 percent of the company's $242.9 million in 2012 pre-tax income, or $2.43 million. That was up from $240,798 in 2011, when the company has just $12.1 million in pre-tax income. D.R. Horton's fiscal year ends Sept. 30. 

Those compensation figures are calculated using The Associated Press' formula, which counts salary, bonus, non-equity incentive plan compensation, grants of plan-based awards and all other compensation, as listed on the company's proxy. 

-- Jim Fuquay

 

DFW home starts surged in third quarter

New home construction jumped 34.5 percent in the year's third quarter compared to a year ago, the fifth straight quarter of gains and the best since the second quarter of 2010, Residential Strategies said Thursday. There were 5,173 new home starts in the quarter, and for the first time since 2007, starts outpaced sales, the Dallas real estate research firm said. "The confluence of solid area job growth, ultra-low mortgage rates, tight existing home inventory and improving buyer confidence is propelling the DFW housing market forward with a solid recovery," said partner Ted Wilson. On an annual basis, the third-quarter starts equated to 16,431 starts for the year, which is just short of the rate seen during 2010's second quarter, when the government's homebuyer incentive program was in effect. That  tax-driven activity was not sustainable, Wilson said, and "meeting that previous interim high with organic growth represents a milestone in the recovery process."

Builders ended the quarter with 8,921 homes for sale or under construction, with 2,759 in the Tarrant area and 6,162 in the Dallas area. Both are up from a year earlier, although only narrowly in Tarrant. Builders are also whittling down the supply of vacant lots, the company said, ending the quarter with 57,787, or a 42-month supply. That's still much higher than the 24-month supply that's considered healthy, but about 15,000 of those lots are considered unusable by builders, Residential Strategies said.

-- Jim Fuquay

DFW housing report says construction of new homes growing

A second housing report this week that shows Dallas-Fort Worth housing starts on the rise suggests the housing recovery is well underway.

"While much of the improvement to date has been centered on the northern suburbs and at the higher price points, our builder clients are reporting widespread improved confidence among potential homebuyers," said Ted Wilson, partner with Residential Strategies, a Dallas-based consulting firm, which released the report Friday.

D-FW homebuilders started construction on 4,538 houses from April through June, up 19 percent from 3,804 starts in the same quarter a year ago, the report said.

Builders also closed the sale of 3,901 homes, up 7 percent from the second quarter of 2011.

Wilson said low 30-year mortgage rates have contributed to the rise in construction and sales activity. The average 30-year loan rate fell to 3.62 percent this week, Freddie Mac reported.

"Buyers that can qualify for a mortgage want to take advantage of these attractive low rates," Wilson said.

Fort Worth has a supply of 2,738 new homes that range from being under construction to completed or model homes. That’s 112 more than the first quarter and 33 more than the supply at the end of June a year ago, the report said.

"Finished inventory is being snapped up in the better performing neighborhoods," Wilson said.

- Sandra Baker

DFW new home starts up significantly in second quarter

The number of new homes under construction in Dallas-Fort Worth in the second quarter reached their second highest point in the past four years, the result of a strong sales season, a housing report said Thursday.

Home builders started construction on 4,459 homes between April and June, said Dallas-based Metrostudy. The last high point was in the second quarter of 2010, when 4,598 homes were started, but that was when first-time homebuyers were being offered a federal tax incentive.

It was in the third quarter of 2008 — when the number of homes starting construction was 5,400 — that marked the last time home starts were above 5,000. By comparison, home starts in the second quarter of 2006 were 13,696 homes and annual starts were reaching 51,922 homes, Metrostudy said.

"This is the first time in over five years that we may have to increase our forecast for homebuilding activity," said David Brown, director of Metrostudy’s Dallas-Fort Worth office. "The annual starts pace has now risen to 15,123 homes, 12 percent higher than the bottom of the market in 2009. The starts pace, however, is still 71 percent below the peak of the market in 2006."

Starts for the second quarter were up 22 percent from a year ago and 41 percent higher from the first quarter, Brown said.

"This was the fourth quarter in a row that starts increased year-over-year and the market gained momentum during the last three months," Brown said.

Closings of sales on new homes in the second quarter, or 4,077, were up 15 percent from a year ago and 22 percent higher than the first quarter, Metrostudy said.

"We expect to see closings continue to increase throughout 2012 given the strong sales during the first half of the year and significant jump in starts during the second quarter," Brown said. "The market is just beginning to recover."

North Fort Worth and southeast Arlington are among the submarkets with the largest increase in starts, Metrostudy said.

There is a 2.1-month supply of new homes on the market in North Texas and a 3.6-year supply of new home lots, Metrostudy said.

_ Sandra Baker

Builders have improved confidence in the new home market, report says

Builder confidence in the new, single-family home market has reached its highest level since May of 2007, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index.

The index is at 29 this month, up five points from April.

"Builders in many markets are reporting that buyer traffic and sales have picked back up after a pause this April," said Barry Rutenberg, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders, said in a statement. "It seems we have resumed the gradual upward trend in confidence that started at the beginning of this year, as stabilizing prices and excellent affordability encourage more people to pursue a new-home purchase."

The NAHB has measured builder confidence for 25 years. A score over 50 indicates that more builders view conditions as good than poor.

_ Sandra Baker

Bank posts unsold Southlake luxury show home for foreclosure

SOUTHLAKE — One of four featured luxury homes in the 2010 Tarrant County Kaleidoscope of Homes show is scheduled for the May foreclosure auction.

The 7,500-square-foot home at 1916 Tennyson Lane in the exclusive Shady Oaks development, just north of Southlake Boulevard on Shady Oaks Drive, was built by Venetian Custom Homes in Southlake. The home was completed for the show, but it did not sell.

The homebuilder is now arrears on the $1.4 million note it took out with Southwest Securities Bank on the five-bedroom, five-bathroom property, which posted the foreclosure notice. Unless the debt is cured, or the bank pulls the sale, the bank is scheduled to foreclose May 1.

Shane Golden, owner of Venetian Custom Homes, could not be reached immediately for comment.

At the time of the show, the house was listed for nearly $2.2 million. The price has been lower a couple of times since then and is now listed for $1.59 million, according to online real estate listings.

Kaleidoscope of Homes in a fund-raising event of the Greater Fort Worth Builders Association. The 2010 event was the organization’s 20th anniversary show.

Two of the four houses did sell, one in May 2011 and the other in November 2011. The fourth is still for sale, but its price has been dropped, to $1.7 million from the $2.1 million initial listing price, online listings show.

Golden founded Venetian Custom Homes in 2002. In 2010, Golden’s company donated the remodeling of a Euless home for a 32-year-old woman who uses a wheelchair. The project was featured on an NBC home improvement show.

_ Sandra Baker

Homebuilding increases for third straight quarter in North Texas

The number of new homes under construction was up in the first quarter compared to a year ago, the third straight quarter that new home builders have increased the number of homes they are building, the result of strong sales orders, Metrostudy said Wednesday.

"The increasing sales should lead to larger increases in starts over the next two quarters as backlogs are beginning to build for homebuilders," said David Brown, director of Metrostudy’s Dallas-Fort Worth office. Metrostudy tracks home-building activity in North Texas.

"The first three months of the year are reinforcing our forecast that 2012 will be the first year of recovery in the Dallas-Fort Worth housing market," he said.

Tarrant, Denton and Collin counties accounted for most of the increase in starts, Metrostudy said.

New home closings are also increasing from the second half of 2011, Brown said, and that is expected to continue as well.

Between January and March, 3,192 homes were started, compared to 2,975 homes in the first quarter of 2011. On an annual basis, which takes in the past four quarters, home starts in Dallas-Fort Worth totaled 14,277, down slightly from 14,524 annual starts totaled in the first quarter of 2011, figures show.

In the last three years, quarterly and annual home starts peaked in the second quarter of 2010, during the time the first-time homebuyers were offered a tax incentive.

Also in the first quarter, builders closed the sale of 3,327 homes, up from 3,179 closings in the first quarter of 2011.

Inventory declined significantly in the first quarter, to 7,370 homes built from 7,671 homes a year ago, and is now at its lowest point since 1993, Brown said.

Lot inventory also dropped, to 57,645 lots, or a 48-month supply, from 65,724 lots, a 54-month supply, a year ago.

With the improving new home market, prices could go up this year, particularly in stronger submarkets, Brown said.

"As lot supplies continue to shrink in the high demand submarkets, the cost of replacement lots is increasing," he said. "These higher costs will have to be passed on to the consumer resulting in increased new home prices during the second half of the year."

_ Sandra Baker