Florida Housing Market Gets New Builder

Florida mortgage activity is slowing down in much of the state, but some parts are still attracting buyers - and home builders to meet demand for them.
Shea Homes, a large home builder based in California, is now entering the Florida housing market in an agreement to be the exclusive builder with St. Joe Co.’s “active adult” neighborhood in Victoria Park in DeLand.

St. Joe said Monday that Shea is purchasing as many as 705 new home sites in the Victoria Gardens section of the development, including 168 finished home sites in the first phase of the agreement.

Shea Homes currently builds homes in Arizona, Colorado, Washington and North Carolina, in addition to California.

It was chosen 2007 Builder of the Year by Professional Builder magazine and was ranked 15th by the magazine in housing revenue, with $2.88 billion in 2006, making it the nation’s largest private builder.

St. Joe, based in Jacksonville and Florida’s largest landowner after the state itself, is no longer constructing homes in its developments and has been signing new agreements with home builders to take over such work in its communities.

As Florida home mortgage demand has declined throughout much of the Sunshine State, St. Joe has been forced to scale back its profits.

Rick Andreen, president of Shea Homes’ resort communities, said the agreement “will allow both companies to focus on what they do best,” and Shea sees the move as “a strong first step” in expanding its business across Florida.

Most of St. Joe’s holdings are away from the South Florida housing market, where the impact of the downturn has been most widely felt.

SOURCE: Orlando Sentinel