Dive Brief:
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Lennar has backed off plans to purchase Davenport Downs, a 64-acre site in the Antioch area of Nashville, TN, from Houston-based developer Hines, The Tennessean reported.
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Councilman Sam Coleman had previously announced Lennar’s plans to develop the parcel with as many as 207 single-family homes priced from $230,000 to $280,000, but a Hines staffer on Monday said the agreement has been canceled.
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Lennar is currently building in several communities in the area, including 47 homes in a nearby subdivision.
Dive Insight:
The country’s second-largest builder, according to an annual ranking kept by Builder magazine, Lennar closed 2,271 more homes in 2016 than it did in 2015. The company reported $911.8 million in net earnings in 2016, up from $802.9 million the prior year.
The builder has nine active communities in the Nashville area, including Bridgemore Village in Thompson’s Station, Carellton in Gallatin, and Durham Farms in Hendersonville.
At the beginning of the year, real estate listing company Zillow picked Nashville as the hottest housing market in 2017. The city kicked off the year with a 12.4% year-over-year increase in home values in January.
The Nashville suburbs are seeing growth, too, The Tennessean reported, particularly as residents move out of urban centers to areas with lower housing costs.
In Davidson County, home of Antioch and the abandoned Davenport Downs deal, listing prices are climbing and inventory is shrinking. There were roughly 800 fewer homes available in February 2017 as compared to February 2016.
