Real Estate News

Fort Myers Foreclosures Impacting Middle-class

The first wave of foreclosures to impact Lee County were dominated by investor-owned single-family homes in Lehigh Acres and Cape Coral.  Many of these were the speculative products constructed by the likes of First Homes and sold to under-qualified and inexperienced investors.  These investors were the first to fall and many just walked away from [...]

Hovnanian Checks Out

Bye Bye First Homes

An ugly era in the annuls of Southwest Florida real estate history came to an end yesterday when Hovnanian sold the last 1,409 lots it owns in Southwest Florida. Hovnanian sold these remaining lots to a Czech investment group for about $3,000 each, a far cry from the peak value about [...]

Hovnanian swings and misses

Local giant misses Q3 earnings target

Hovnanian Enterprises, Inc., who recently acquired local power-house builder First Homes, missed third quarter earnings projections.

Hovnanian said earnings for its fiscal third quarter ended July 31 rose 34 percent to $116.1 million, or $1.76 per share, from $86.7 million, or $1.33 per share, in the year-ago period.

Analysts’ average estimate was [...]

First Homes scooped up

Acquired by Hovnanian Enterprises

Local powerhouse builder, First Homes Builders, was acquired by Hovnanian Enterprises,Inc. (NYSE – HOV) the nation’s eighth largest builder. The acquisition was all cash and the purchase price was undisclosed. Hovnanian is publicly traded and currently has backlogged orders for over 11,000 homes.

Hovnanian expects the acquisition to add about 5 cents to [...]

First Home fastest growing

Local builder fastest growing in country

First Home Builders, headquartered in Cape Coral, was named by Builder Magazine as the fastest growing private builder in the country for the second consecutive year.

Evidence of First Home’s rapid ascent is evident in a drive around Gator Circle in Northeast Cape Coral or a cruise through many neighborhoods in [...]