Pulte Homes is outperforming its peers with the highest profit margins in the homebuilding industry, topping roughly 30%—several hundred basis points higher than competitors. The company’s active adult line, sold under its Del Webb brand, has become its most profitable segment and now accounts for a quarter of its overall business.
Speaking earlier this month at the National Investment Center conference in Austin, President and CEO Ryan Marshall attributed the company’s success to its sharp focus on consumer segmentation and product strategy. In a conversation with Willy Walker, chairman and CEO of Walker & Dunlop, Marshall explained that Pulte divides potential buyers into 14 groups, some of which are further segmented into subcategories.
“We cut the bologna pretty thin,” Marshall said, noting that the granular approach helps identify exactly what type of home should be built in a particular market.
That strategy has propelled the Del Webb brand, which launched in the Southeast and has since expanded into new regions, including the Midwest. Marshall pointed to a recently opened Cleveland community that sold 110 homes within months of launching in February. “It’s the most recognized brand in the industry,” he said.
The company’s approach is rooted in consumer research and continuous communication with local market teams. Marshall said Pulte holds regular strategy calls with its divisions to assess competitive pressures, permitting challenges and town-specific dynamics. While the company keeps an eye on multifamily trends, it selects homebuilding locations primarily by tracking population and job growth.
“Parents are making decisions on where to live based on their kids, but what they’re really doing is chasing their grandkids,” Marshall said, adding that the location of an eldest daughter often becomes a deciding factor since she is most likely to care for aging parents.
For many, a Del Webb house may be their last home. Only 20% to 25% of those homes are built on speculation compared to 75% to 80% for entry-level properties, underscoring the degree of customization offered. Buyers work with a design team and a dedicated center to choose details ranging from showers to closet layouts, relying on a proprietary pricing model to understand how options add value. To visualize layouts, the company uses a 200,000-square-foot warehouse where it constructs full-scale models for testing and customer tours.
Pulte’s scale allows it to experiment with financing as well. The company purchases mortgages so that it can set its own interest rates.
“This is our way of helping to address affordability,” Marshall said, noting that Pulte can provide mortgages with rates below 5%.
Its largest Del Webb communities typically range from 750 to 1,000 homes—big enough to offer a variety of amenities and opportunities for residents to build friendships, but small enough to remain marketable if Pulte decides to sell. While Del Webb was once synonymous with attached golf courses, Marshall said the company now prefers to build near courses rather than incorporating them into every project.
For Gen X, the company has introduced its Del Webb “Explorer” brand. The communities have no age restrictions and feature more contemporary fitness offerings, such as CrossFit, rather than traditional aerobics.
“Gen Xers bristle at the thought of having to qualify for anything in life,” Marshall said. “Besides, people in their 50s don’t feel like they’re 50.”
Affordability remains a key challenge, with the average Pulte home priced at about $600,000—a level Marshall acknowledged requires a six-figure income, even for younger buyers. While material and labor costs are difficult to control, Marshall said the firm sees an opportunity in lowering land costs.
“We believe that if we can find a way to buy down the cost of land, that can help with affordability,” he said.
Despite tariffs, Marshall said costs have remained stable over the last 18 months and predicted little impact in the near term. For 2026, he projected only a modest price increase of about $3,000 per home, amounting to less than 1%.
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