More Home Builders Cut South Florida Staff

In another symptom of the slowing South Florida housing market, DiVosta Building Corp. said Monday it will lay off 218 of the 552 workers at its Palm Beach Gardens headquarters.

The laid-off workers include 87 journeymen, 58 laborers and 50 apprentices. They’ll lose their jobs between February 16 and March 1, according to the Palm Beach Post.

“We’re trying to match our work force to the construction pace,” said Beth Cocchiarella, spokeswoman for DiVosta parent company Pulte Homes.

DiVosta is just the latest of the big home builders to cut workers.

Lennar, Toll Brothers and Centex - all with significant operations in South Florida - also have laid off employees, industry experts say. Even smaller local builders such as Sunland Homes of Jupiter, which this year cut 20 of its 45 employees. Both home prices and home sales have fallen off in a big way this year.

Builders went on a hiring binge in 2004 and 2005 to meet record demand for new homes. But now that the housing boom - and the wave of speculation that accompanied it - has ebbed, more people can’t make the necessary Florida mortgage payments needed to buy homes. In turn, builders have been forced to cut workers.

“They want to bring the production of homes back in line with true demand,” said Bradley Hunter, an analyst at Metrostudy in Boca Raton. “Builders were building at a pace that was matching an artificial demand.”

But even as the residential construction market cools, the commercial real estate market remains strong, Hunter said, which provides opportunity for DiVosta’s laid-off workers.

“Pouring concrete is pouring concrete, and laying brick is laying brick, so they can transfer those skills,” Hunter said.