Homebuilder bolts past 700 annual sales

LAKEWOOD RANCH — Neal Communities surpassed 700 homes sales for the year in October — an annual tally that's already bested all of 2012 by more than 100 sales.

The firm, based in Lakewood Ranch, is one of the largest locally owned homebuilders on the Gulf Coast. It sells homes in 16 communities that span from Manatee County to Lee County. The company sold 54 homes in October, according to a release, which brings the year-to-date total to 712.

“While the national climate seems to be creating hesitancy for people to move forward with home purchases, we are experiencing different market trends here in Southwest Florida,” Neal Communities President and CEO Pat Neal says in the release. “Where we parallel the national market is in our homebuyer demographics. We continue to see a trend of more baby boomers making purchases as opposed to the millennial generation. That younger market segment remains somewhat plagued by high debt levels and weak job prospects, proving to be a barrier for many young, educated Americans to buy homes.”

Some of the top-selling communities for the company in October include Central Park at Lakewood Ranch, with 10 sales; Fairfield in Bradenton, with eight sales; and Villa Palmeras in Estero, with five sales. The firm, which has built more than 9,000 homes, was named the No. 1 ranked local homebuilder in total homes sales in recent surveys from Metrostudy and Hanley Wood Market Intelligence.