Pulte Homes is clear and away the Chicago area’s largest home builder, according to a new survey by Crain’s Chicago Business (sorry, the link might not work if you’re reading this at a later date). Pulte took the top slot in the Crain’s ranking, with $700 million in local revenue and 2,530 units sold during 2005.
Pulte was followed by Neumann Homes, with $518 million in local dollars, and Cambridge Homes, with roughly $517 million. There’s no one on the list with a city development until number six, Concord Homes, which was bought by Lennar and has a couple of city projects. The last three in the top 10 — American Invsco, The Enterprise Companies and Magellan Development Group are city builders.
The city’s share of the metropolitan market rose dramatically in the ’90s, as traffic patterns will attest, but are high prices and rising interest rates turning the tide? We dunno, but anyone who wants to prognosticate should keep in mind the commute time from Lake in the Hills to Schaumburg — much less the Loop — as gas prices approach $3 a gallon. Click on “Comments” below to give us your take.