BUILDER's Local Leaders Rankings Show Smaller Builders Dominate Many Markets

Despite efforts in recent years to expand their geographic reach, the nation's top home builders still do not dominate most of the country's largest metro markets, according to BUILDER'S annual Local Leaders rankings, released today.

The report, which ranks the top 10 builders in each of the 75 largest new-home markets in the country, reveals that the top 10 national builders captured the number one position in just 35 of the top 75 markets in 2005. In 2001, the top 10 national builders topped the lists in 30 of the top 50 markets. In the intervening years, a chief strategic goal of many of those builders was to pursue positions in the markets now ranked 51 to 75, only to find them already dominated by local builders and more consolidated than markets 1 to 25.

None of the top 10 national builders ranked among the top 10 builders in five of the top 75 markets, including Oklahoma City, OK, Louisville, KY/IN, and Des Moines, IA.

The nation's largest builders do have a stranglehold on some markets. In the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA market -- the country's fourth-largest housing market -- nine of the top 10 national builders claimed spots among the top 10, and seven appear among the top 10 in five other markets, including Las Vegas and Washington.

The Local Leaders report also ranks markets according to consolidation. Albuquerque, NM, is the most consolidated new-home market in the country; its top 10 builders there controlled 74.2 percent of the new-home market in 2005. At the other end of the spectrum, the top 10 builders in the New York-Wayne-White Plains, NY/NJ market accounted for just 5.2 percent of new-home activity.

"Big builders are looking to diversify into active adult, on-your-lot, mid-rise, and high-rise construction due to consolidation in major markets," says Boyce Thompson, editorial director of BUILDER magazine, published by Hanley Wood, LLC.

The new data also reflect the growth of attached housing. For the first time, the markets were ranked by total new-home permits, and condominium builders found themselves among the top 10 in such markets as Miami and Fort Myers, FL. (Previously, markets had been ranked by single-family permits issued.)

The complete Local Leaders report can be accessed at: http://www.builderonline.com/localleaders.

About Hanley Wood

Hanley Wood, LLC, is the premier media company serving housing and construction. Through five operating divisions, the company produces award-winning magazines and Web sites, marquee trade shows and events, rich data and custom marketing solutions. The company also is North America's leading publisher of home plans. Hanley Wood Magazines (Washington, D.C.), publishes 26 award-winning residential and commercial construction titles, including BUILDER, REMODELING, CUSTOM HOME, CONCRETE CONSTRUCTION and RESIDENTIAL ARCHITECT. In 2004, BUILDER was named to B-to-B magazine's Media Power 50. For consumers, Hanley Wood Magazines publishes shelter magazines and home plans titles along with home plans web sites.

Founded in 1976, Hanley Wood is a $240 million company owned by JPMorgan Partners, LLC, a private equity affiliate of JPMorgan Chase & Co.