Lending to get boost from booming building and sales

A boost in lending is on the way due to active home building and a rise in new home sales, according to industry figures

A boost in lending is on the way due to active home building and a rise in new home sales, according to industry figures.

Major homebuilders such as KB Homes, Pulte Homes, D.R. Horton recorded exceptionally high earnings and revenue over the first few quarters in 2013, signaling that home lending will also see a noticeable boost.
 
Eddy Perez, President with Equity Loans headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, just opened four additional branches in Washington, South Carolina, Virginia, and Connecticut where he said he will be banking on the referral market from several home builders to boost business. 
 
Stearns Lending, too, announced Monday it is strengthening its “strategic alliances” with the nation’s top homebuilders, including KB Homes. 
 
Stearns CEO Brian Hale told MPA the company has a “defined strategy with homebuilders” who are poised to see stellar growth in the next several years, most of which will be in the Mid-Atlantic coast, the Sunbelt. 
 
#pb#KB homes reported 59% higher revenue and a 40% rise in new home orders during the first quarter, most of which was in the West coast and Central regions, according to the company.
 
Stearns is also building up its executive staff involved with the home building industry. It announced Monday it would hire the former executive in the National Builder Division of Bank of America. 
 
New home sales are booming everywhere, growing 3% year-over-year nationally as of March 2013, but most of the increases can be seen in the West, according to a MarketPulse report released Tuesday by CoreLogic.  
 
Of the 10 fastest growing markets, six of them were in the Western region, including Oakland, California; Bakersfield, California; San Francisco California; Sacramento, California; Phoenix, Arizona; and Salt Lake City, Utah. The remaining cities with highest new home sales were Chicago, Illinois; Charleston, South Carolina; and Lake County, Illinois.
 
The report added that although California and the West appear as the top leaders in terms of new home sales, they are recovering from record lows, unlike other states like Texas, North and South Carolina which are showing signs of more “sound fundamental” growth.