The Most Active Homebuilders in Texas, Florida, North Carolina and California

A slowdown in four states can reshape the national homebuilding market. Texas, Florida, North Carolina and California are home to many of the country's largest new-home markets. In Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston alone, the 10 biggest builders closed more than 46,000 homes in 2025, according to BUILDER's Local Leaders rankings.

Indicators show that building is slowing. Single-family home construction fell about 7% nationally in 2025, according to NAHB, and builders are leaning on price cuts and incentives to keep homes moving. For buyers and building materials suppliers, fewer projects mean a tougher contest for the business that remains. The question is which builders are staying active, and how much of each state’s market they command.

We used Shovels permit data to rank the most active single-family homebuilders in Florida, Texas, North Carolina, and California. Two national builders lead in nearly all four, but the markets differ sharply: in Texas and Florida, the top two out-permit the next eight combined. North Carolina’s building activity is spread more evenly across a wider field.

Key takeaways

• Lennar runs away with California. Lennar permitted 2,711 homes in California, more than KB Home, D.R. Horton and PulteGroup combined (2,568).
• Lennar and D.R. Horton dominate Florida and Texas. In Florida, the two builders permitted 10,753 homes. That’s more than the next eight builders combined, at 8,086.
• North Carolina’s market is less concentrated. Builders ranked third through tenth permitted 5,133 homes, compared with 4,030 for the top two.
• Three national builders rank near the top everywhere. Lennar, D.R. Horton and PulteGroup each placed in the top five in all four states. Ten builders made the top 10 in at least two.
• Scale can mean breadth or concentration. D.R. Horton permitted homes across 21 Florida metros. Homes by Westbay permitted 534 homes in just two.

How we ranked builders by permit activity

We analyzed single-family new-construction permits issued in Texas, Florida, North Carolina and California from April 1, 2025, through March 31, 2026. Each home counts once by address, so separate plumbing, electrical and mechanical permits do not inflate a builder’s total. We excluded inactive permits and later months, when local offices are still reporting recent filings.

We grouped builders across the subsidiaries, divisions and project LLCs they use to file permits, drawing on Shovels’ homebuilder roster and national contractor groups. For example, permits filed by a Lennar regional subsidiary still count toward Lennar.

A few notes on the rankings:

• Permits, not closings. Permits are an early public signal of construction, typically 6 to 18 months before a home closes. The rankings show which builders are most active now, not which are largest by completed sales. Closings-based lists, such as BUILDER’s Local Leaders, may rank them differently.
• Jurisdiction coverage. Counts include only jurisdictions available in Shovels data. Use them to compare builders’ relative activity, not as statewide totals or market shares.
• Like-for-like comparisons. Comparisons such as “the top two out-permit the next eight” use builders from the same state’s top 10.
• Top metros. Each percentage is the share of that builder’s homes in the state that fall in the metro area.

Lennar and D.R. Horton lead in three states

Two builders dominate the rankings in three of the four states. Lennar and D.R. Horton hold the top two spots in Florida, Texas and North Carolina. Interestingly, in California, Lennar leads and D.R. Horton ranks third.

In our permit data, D.R. Horton edges Lennar in Florida, Texas and North Carolina. Rankings based on home closings show a tighter contest. BUILDER’s 2025 Local Leaders rankings place Lennar first in Houston, San Antonio, Tampa, Jacksonville and Miami, while D.R. Horton leads in Dallas–Fort Worth, Austin and Charlotte. The leaders shift from metro to metro, but the same two builders top the rankings across three states.

Both companies are continuing to build their pipelines. D.R. Horton reported that net sales orders in its South Central segment, which includes Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas, rose 6.7% in the first nine months of fiscal 2026. Its backlog in the region reached 3,799 homes on June 30, up from 3,459 a year earlier. Those regional figures point to continued demand in the region.

The Takeaway: Lennar and D.R. Horton lead in three of the four states. Suppliers with strong relationships with both are better positioned to compete for business as the market slows.

Florida and Texas are dominated by two builders

Florida and Texas are the country’s largest single-family homebuilding markets. They are also the most top-heavy: in both states, D.R. Horton and Lennar permitted more homes than the next eight builders combined.

D.R. Horton and Lennar permitted 10,753 homes combined, outpacing the other eight builders on the list, who permitted 8,086. PulteGroup ranked a distant third with 2,531; no other builder reached 1,600.

Below the leaders, the table captures two very different footprints. Tampa-area builder Homes by Westbay permitted 534 homes across five jurisdictions in two metros, with 42% in Pasco County. Adams Homes permitted fewer homes, 483, but spread them across 15 metros, led by Escambia County in the Panhandle.

Much of the activity is tied to large master-planned communities. Lakewood Ranch, which straddles Manatee and Sarasota counties, was the nation’s second-best-selling master-planned community in 2025, with 2,085 new-home sales, according to RCLCO. Wellen Park, farther south in Sarasota County, ranked eighth with 992 sales.

Yet builders are having to work harder to move homes: in December 2025, about 40% of builders nationally cut prices and nearly two-thirds offered incentives, including mortgage rate buydowns, according to NAHB. Florida Realtors has described the state’s market as cooling after years of rapid growth and some overbuilding.

Metros where Florida's top builders are most active

Two Gulf Coast metros anchor Florida's top builders. Nine of the 10 count Tampa or North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton, the metro that includes Lakewood Ranch, among their two biggest markets. Taylor Morrison builds half of its Florida homes in North Port-Sarasota, and Homes by Westbay two-thirds of its homes in Tampa. Jacksonville and Orlando show up as major markets for Meritage Homes, KB Home and Mattamy Homes. Adams Homes is the exception: its largest market is Pensacola, followed by Punta Gorda.

Texas follows the same pattern. D.R. Horton and Lennar permitted 9,950 homes combined, compared with 6,847 for the next eight builders. The gap widens sharply after second place: Lennar permitted nearly four times as many homes as Ashton Woods.

The top 10 also includes several Texas-based companies. In addition to D.R. Horton, Houston-based Perry Homes and Dallas-area Green Brick Partners build heavily in their home markets. Betenbough Homes is the most concentrated: 96% of its permitted homes were in Lubbock, where it has built more homes than any other builder. BUILDER ranks Betenbough 38th nationally by 2025 closings, with nearly all its activity in West Texas.

Where Texas's top builders are most active

Houston is the top metro for five of Texas's top 10 builders: D.R. Horton, Perry Homes, Meritage Homes, SH Residential and Century Communities. Austin leads for Ashton Woods and PulteGroup, and Dallas-Fort Worth for Lennar and Green Brick Partners.

The two leaders divide their Texas building differently. D.R. Horton splits almost evenly between Houston (36%) and Dallas-Fort Worth (33%), with Killeen-Temple a distant third (14%), while Lennar leans toward Dallas-Fort Worth (48%). Meritage Homes is more evenly spread, with about a third of its Texas homes in each of Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth and Austin.

The Takeaway: In Florida and Texas, two national accounts carry more volume than the rest of the top 10 combined. A supplier there needs a place on those builders' approved vendor lists before it chases the long tail.

North Carolina spreads permit volume across more builders

North Carolina's builder market is the least concentrated of the four states.

The state’s growth also extends beyond its largest metros. Brunswick County, south of Wilmington on the coast, is the state’s fastest-growing county, and its housing stock grew 6% in a year.

Looking at homebuilders in the state, D.R. Horton and Lennar still lead in North Carolina, but together, they account for less than the next eight builders combined.

The builders ranked third through tenth permitted 5,133 homes combined, compared with 4,030 for D.R. Horton and Lennar. NVR, which builds as Ryan Homes, permitted 1,063 homes. Clayton Properties permitted 862, nearly half of Lennar’s total. Regional builder True Homes also made the top 10, with 499 homes.

Where North Carolina's top builders are most active

In North Carolina, two leaders split the state. D.R. Horton's largest market is Charlotte, while Lennar builds 70% of its North Carolina homes in the Triangle: 43% in Raleigh and 27% in Durham-Chapel Hill. Charlotte is the top metro for NVR, True Homes and Mattamy Homes, which builds 70% of its North Carolina homes there.

PulteGroup, Ashton Woods and KB Home lean toward the Triangle, and DRB Group divides evenly between Charlotte and Raleigh. D.R. Horton and Clayton Properties reach furthest: Charlotte accounts for only a third of D.R. Horton's North Carolina homes, and Clayton's second-largest market is Winston-Salem.

The Takeaway: North Carolina's volume is spread across more builders than Florida's or Texas's. For suppliers, that means more accounts in reach, and coastal markets like Brunswick County deserve a place on the territory map next to Raleigh and Charlotte.

California's permit activity centers on Lennar and the Inland Empire

California departs from both patterns. One builder leads by a wide margin, and much of the top 10’s activity clusters in one area. For single-family construction especially, the Inland Empire remains the center of activity.

Lennar permitted 2,711 homes, more than KB Home, D.R. Horton and PulteGroup combined. For seven of the ten builders, the busiest jurisdiction is in the Inland Empire: Ontario in San Bernardino County, or Riverside County and its city of Banning.

Ontario is also the busiest jurisdiction for four of California’s top 10 builders and home to the Inland Empire’s largest project. Ontario Ranch, which KB Home describes as Southern California’s largest master-planned community, spans more than 8,000 acres and has Lennar, KB Home, Brookfield Residential and other builders working at once.

Two builders stand apart. Taylor Morrison and Century Communities are concentrated in Lincoln, north of Sacramento. Risewell Homes, by contrast, makes the top 10 on Inland Empire volume, with a third of its homes in Ontario.

Where California's top builders are building

Every one of California's top 10 builders counts Sacramento among its two biggest metros, and seven have Riverside-San Bernardino as their largest. Tri Pointe leans hardest on the Inland Empire, with 72% of its California homes there.

Lennar is the most spread out: after Riverside-San Bernardino (35%) and Sacramento (21%), San Diego accounts for another 19% of its homes. Toll Brothers is the only top-10 builder whose largest market is the Bay Area, with 55% of its California homes in the San Jose metro.

The Takeaway: In California, Lennar is the account. The Inland Empire is where most top builders do their volume, which makes it the first place to staff for a supplier entering the state.

What the rankings mean for suppliers and home services companies

A permit is a public record, so seeing one project rarely creates an edge by itself. The advantage comes from connecting permits across builders, counties and metros to understand who is active in a territory, where their projects cluster and how broad their footprint is.

For building material distributors and manufacturers, the state rankings are a territory plan. In Florida and Texas, secure a position with the top two builders, then work the regional builders below them. In North Carolina, the volume is spread across eight mid-sized builders, so prioritize by metro and by where each branch can win. Match each list against your CRM to find the builders you do not sell to yet.

For home services companies, the builders who permit the most homes today are the source of tomorrow's warranty work, service contracts and replacement jobs in their communities. The busiest counties, such as Manatee, Fort Bend and the Inland Empire, are where those homes will need service in the years ahead.

The rankings offer a snapshot as the market cools, not a forecast. If national builders continue to gain orders while overall construction slows, their share of activity could rise. If the 2025 decline in top-builder share continues, regional companies may capture more of the market. Permits will register that shift before closings.

For the national view, see Who's Building America? The Top 25 National Homebuilders by Permit Activity.

Need to know which builders are most active in your territory? Shovels tracks permits by builder, metro and county across the country, so your team can see who is building in your territory. Contact us to talk through your use case.