Mattamy Homes Plans for Growth

In the three-plus years since Steven Parker became president of Canada-based Mattamy Homes’ U.S. Group, he has been trying to grow its U.S. business and grab market share. Things didn’t happen quite as quickly as he expected. Like most builders, the prolonged building recession caught him by surprise, and land buying was delayed. “We are already the largest builder in Canada,” Parker said. “And we would like to grow in the U.S. But since I have been with them it’s been rough trying to grow the business,” Parker said during a recent interview. “Most builders have gone backwards but we have at least stayed flat for the last three years,” selling roughly 600 homes each year in the U.S. market. “But we’ve gained market share,” said Parker. And the company is now poised to gain even more. It has announced plans to open 13 new communities in the first half of 2011, and 10 of those will open with models in the first quarter. Together, the 13 communities include 988 lots, 758 single-family lots, and 230 town homes. The lots are being bought from options from developers. “They are all what I feel are very solid locations, whether you call them A's ,or B's or B-pluses,” Parker said. While the company is growing its community count, it isn’t moving into new markets. Mattamy has chosen to stick with the same markets it has farmed for three years or more.

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