Prolific homebuilder on pace to beat 2015

Neal Communities, one of the most prolific builders in the region, sold 276 homes in the third quarter.

Sales for the year now for the Lakewood Ranch-based builder stand at 856, according to a release. That's up from 833 through the first nine months of 2015.

“Consumer confidence was up again in September, according to industry data,” says Pat Neal, chairman of the executive committee of Neal Communities, in the statement. “The Southwest Florida home buying market is normally more robust than housing trends nationwide, and we can clearly see the results of a spike in homebuyer confidence through our home sales throughout the third quarter.”

Several Neal Communities neighborhoods saw particularly high home sales in September, say company officials. The leader was Milano in Venice, with 15 home sales. Grand Palm in Venice, Silverleaf in Parrish and Windwood, a 90-home community in Venice that opened for sales in early 2015, were other sales leaders for the quarter, the company adds in the statement.

Neal communities, in addition to the sales growth, has hired 70 people in 2016 and now has 320 employees. The firm, ranked nationally among the top 50 builders by Builder Magazine, has built over 10,000 homes in southwest Florida in the last 45 years.