New Homes from PulteGroup in NC

PulteGroup Inc. (PHM - Analyst Report) recently held a ground breaking ceremony at the Carolina Arbors community in the city of Durham, N.C. The community will have 1,275 single family ranch homes constructed under its brand Del Webb. The prices range from mid $190s to mid $300s.

Eleven designer model homes are expected to be complete by summer 2013. These are targeted toward residents aged 55 and older. The residents can enjoy easy access to facilities like boating, hiking, shopping centers, and restaurants. The residents can choose from various single story floors plans, with 2-car garage, spacious rooms and a living space, walk in master suite closets, and loft options.

The rising demand for new homes has led to a favorable situation in the housing market, where inventory levels are dropping and prices are moving up. As such most home building companies are constructing increased number of new homes in order to maintain the required level of inventory to meet the growing demand. Homebuilders like Pulte with significant land positions, broad geographic and product diversity, and better capital positions are expected to benefit the most as market conditions recover.

Pulte had announced its plans to spend 1 billion on land and land development in 2012, $90 million higher than prior expectations of approximately $910 million.

PulteGroup carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Stocks in the homebuilding sector that look attractive at current levels include NVR, Inc. (NVR - Snapshot Report), The Ryland Group, Inc. (RYL - Snapshot Report) and D.R. Horton Inc. (DHI - Analyst Report)). While NVR carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), The Ryland Group and D.R. Horton both hold a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).