The consolidation in everything continues and we see it in the home building arena. A local favorite, Rosewood Communities, was just acquired by United Homes Group which is a publicly traded company headquatered just out of Columbia, SC. Rosewood Communities builds a gorgeous cottage home in several communities throughout the Upstate of South Carolina. They are a high quality builder that will help $UHG continue to grow in the high growth market of the Upstate.
Here’s the press release announcing the purchase. Congratulations to Rosewood’s owner, Mark Nyblom on the exit. He developed Rosewood Communities into a top notch home building company that delivered a product people really enjoyed. Hopefully United Homes Group will continue with this excellent in quality, design and style. According to the press release, Mark Nyblom will stay on as division manager which should be a good thing.
“Acquiring Rosewood Communities is a great opportunity to expand our existing footprint in the Upstate area,” said UHG Chief Executive Officer Michael Nieri. “With a world-class university in Clemson and a booming industrial base in Greenville with employers like BMW, Upstate South Carolina is a fast growing, attractive new home market. Rosewood’s innovative home designs will also allow us to diversify our product offering in the Upstate, and we plan on using their designs in our other markets.”
There was no mention of the price paid. It sure seems to me to be a brilliant acquisition as I would think these types of plans and communities will be well received throughout the markets where UHG is established as well as those they will move into in the future. Congrats to all involved!
Another subdivision has been approved by Greenville County. Stanley Martin Homes will build 171 homes in a new neighborhood called Parker’s Summit adjacent to the CESA Soccer Complex in Greenville along Anderson Ridge Road. Stanley Martin builds beautiful homes and it’s a great location being just 5 minutes to Five Forks and right next to the soccer field. It’s also probably about a half mile or so from one of my favorite spots here in Greenville – the Enoree Transfer Station at 1311 Anderson Ridge Road. (If you know me, you’d know I’m not joking…you can throw just about anything away there at no charge…it’s super convenient!).
Just the other day I was driving down Anderson Ridge and it’s busy and it’s a narrow road. For those who are new to the Upstate, you’ve probably noticed the lack of any kind of shoulder on most South Carolina roads. Anderson Ridge is definitely one of those roads. Traffic can stack up pretty deep there at the light at S. Bennetts Bridge Road at Anderson Ridge.
So far with all the news of a housing market slowdown, we are not seeing a slowdown yet in new developments. Developments are certainly not a leading indicator because of the time and expense to see these through to approval but I suspect once we start seeing withdrawals of new developments, then we’ll know the housing market will likely soon bottom.
Lennar has a new development going in across from the soccer fields. That land has been cleared for a number of months. I haven’t heard when building is starting but it must be soon. That’s a gorgeous piece of land…more on that in a future post.
A key measure of how home builders are feeling about their market was released today. The National Association of Home Builders / Wells Fargo Housing Market Index saw a rise of one point month over month to 76. This is down from the peak of 90 during the craziness of Covid. It’s come down in part due to the challenges many builders had faced with materials and labor costs going up. While lumber and building materials have come down in price, labor remains a challenge for the industry. Here’s another good look at the latest data from the Calculated Risk Blog.
Just a reminder that the 2019 Upstate Parade of Homes runs one more weekend – October 18-20. This is a nice opportunity to check out some new homes in the area.
The event is brought to you by the Home Builders Association of Greenville.