Real estate agents and homebuilders continue to lament the lack of first-time homebuyers, but one builder may have found magic honey to catch them.
Housing experts generally have a lot of excuses for first-timers, noting that millennials want to live in urban settings, are saddled with student debt or are content to live in their parent's basement.
However, D.R. Horton Inc. is finding success with the construction of starter homes.
The Fort Worth, Texas-based builder launched its Express Homes brand
The price of those entry-level homes has gone up since last April but so has demand.
D.R. Horton sold 8,243 homes in the quarter ending March 31, including 1,070 Express Homes with an average price of $179,000. DRH also builds luxury and midsize homes.
During a conference call on the builder's second-quarter earnings, David Auld, D.R. Horton's president and chief executive, said 60% of Express Homes' buyers were first-timers.
The other 40% of Express Homes' buyers are "very conservative and looking for great buy," he said Wednesday.
The publicly traded builder currently offers the Express brand in 44 markets in 13 states with the majority of sales coming from Texas, the Carolinas and Florida.
"Customer response to our affordable Express product offering has been very positive," said
"We're not having any problem selling those houses," said Michael Murray, executive vice president and chief executive of DRH. "Our evidence would show that we think that any limitations for the entry-level buyer are supply-driven."
