Key facts
- Homebuilders face tougher land acquisition math for 2027-2029 due to rising costs and future demand uncertainty.
- New-home inventory reached 9.6 months of supply in July.
- Acres.com's new platform uses AI to analyze land and market data, including entity mapping for land ownership.
- The platform covers over 1,000 metro and micropolitan areas and 3,000-plus counties.
- In San Antonio, D.R. Horton leads in tract acreage held, while Lennar and PulteGroup show different lot acquisition strategies.
- Acres' analysis indicates inventory is skewing above recent transaction price points in San Antonio.
Homebuilders are facing increasingly complex challenges in land acquisition and development, particularly for the 2027-2029 period. These challenges stem from rising land, development, infrastructure, financing, impact-fee, and entitlement costs, as well as the difficulty of forecasting future buyer affordability and market conditions. New-home inventory in July reached 9.6 months of supply, with 117,000 completed homes for sale and an additional 256,000 under construction, putting pressure on prices, incentives, and margins.
To address these issues, Acres.com has launched Homebuilder Market Intelligence, a nationwide expansion of its AI-powered land-data platform. The service integrates land and lot transfers, platting, permits, builder pipelines, listings, pricing, closings, and household financial information across more than 1,000 metro and micropolitan areas and 3,000-plus counties. It draws on over 155 million parcel records and 60 million land transactions.
Acres founder and CEO Carter Malloy stated that the platform aims to provide directional insights rather than just historical data, helping builders anticipate future market movements. The platform also focuses on mapping entities behind homebuilder land ownership, as builders often acquire property through LLCs. Malloy emphasized the use of verified, on-the-ground data that is more current than surveys.
An example from San Antonio illustrates the platform's utility. While D.R. Horton ranks second in closings, it leads in tract acreage held. Lennar and PulteGroup also demonstrate distinct land acquisition patterns. Acres' analysis of the San Antonio market shows that two-thirds of recent closings were below $350,000, while only 55% of active listings fall into that price range, indicating a potential mismatch between available inventory and buyer affordability.