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Marketplace: Will merger of homebuilders help?

April 8, 2009

Gary Painter, USC Lusk Center for Real Estate, is quoted in the April 8, 2009 edition of Marketplace:

Will merger of homebuilders help?
Marketplace, April 8, 2009
By Mitchell Hartman

"...When construction does pick up, the company will be poised to grow. It'll have $3.4 billion on hand. Gary Painter directs research at the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate. He says cash is a good thing to have right now.

GARY PAINTER: Because there's not the same sort of credit available that there obviously used to be, it'll put them in a position to acquire inventory of land for the long term.And acquiring land in the right places -- for the right buyers -- will make all the difference, Painter says.

PAINTER: Where the growth in terms of the population is going to be: from immigrant children becoming first-time homebuyers. And then you're going to see the Baby Boomers who are starting to cross into retirement age.

Here, the merged company is sitting pretty. It'll be strong in starter homes and retirement communities. And it'll have lots of land in Texas and North Carolina, growing Sunbelt states with plenty of immigrants and retirees."

Listen to Marketplace: Will merger of homebuilders help?

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