Every year we see newcomers (and old friends) join the ranks of BUILDER's Top 100 and Next 100 list of leading home builders in the nation. While breaking into the Top 100 is a feat of its own, it's hardest to break the top tier list of builders (No. 1-25), dominated by power-players in the industry like D.R. Horton, PulteGroup, and Lennar Corp., who have shuffled among the top three slots since the BUILDER 100 premiered in 2004.

2014 was a big year for change in the new-home market, although builders primarily relied on move-up buyers to close homes and maintain revenue at the same level as they did in 2013. Innovation bubbled, and builders worked to develop new product to entice first-time or millennial buyers to enter the market and (hopefully) fill a critical gap in the road to housing's recovery (like D.R. Horton's Express Line Homes). The top tier of the BUILDER 100 also was no stranger to change, as builders at this lofty level shifted more year-over-year than recorded the past two years, and two builders never making the top tier-Tri Pointe Group and Century Communities-made unprecedented jumps from lower positions in the list with high numbers of reported closings.

Tri Pointe Group made the most dramatic leap from No. 156 in 2013 to No. 17 this year, reporting a 575.38% change in closings: 459 closings in 2013, and 3,100 in 2014 (the biggest increase y-o-y in BUILDER 100 history). Century Communities was also one of the fastest-growing builders year-over-year with a 278.49% increase in closings, jumping from No. 96 to No. 24 on our list. The only other two newcomers to the top tier for this year's list were Brookfield Residential Properties (No. 21), and LGI Homes, Inc. (No. 23), jumping 32 and 11 slots, respectively.

Nineteen builders have retained their position in the top tier of the BUILDER 100 for the past five years, although there was some notable shuffling in the ranks-Taylor Morrison jumped from No. 14 to No. 7 this year, and Habitat for Humanity slid five slots from No. 10 to No. 15. Two old-timers got bumped in 2014 after six consecutive years in the top tier-Perry Homes and The Drees Co.


BUILDER 100 Top-Tier Old Timers (2010-2014):
  • Ashton Woods Homes
  • Beazer Homes USA
  • David Weekley Homes
  • D.R. Horton
  • Habitat for Humanity International
  • Hovnanian Enterprises
  • KB Home
  • Lennar Corp.
  • M.D.C. Holdings
  • Meritage Homes Corp.
  • NVR
  • PulteGroup
  • Shea Homes
  • Standard Pacific Homes
  • Taylor Morrison
  • The Drees Co.
  • The Ryland Group
  • The Villages of Lake Sumter
  • Toll Brothers

Our interactive bump chart below displays the top 25 builders on the BUILDER 100 list every year from 2010 to 2014, primarily illustrating how the largest builders have shuffled over the years, and how rare it is for newcomers to break into the top tier.

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