Pulte Homes, Inc. is a publicly held holding company whose subsidiaries engage
in the homebuilding and financial services businesses. Our assets consist principally
of the capital stock of our subsidiaries, cash and investments. Our income primarily
consists of dividends from our subsidiaries and interest on investments. Our direct
subsidiaries include Pulte Diversified Companies, Inc., Del Webb Corporation (Del
Webb) and other subsidiaries engaged in the homebuilding business. Pulte Diversified
Companies, Inc.’s operating subsidiaries include Pulte Home Corporation, Pulte
International Corporation (International) and other subsidiaries engaged in the
homebuilding business.
We have two reportable business segments, Homebuilding and Financial Services,
and one non-operating segment, Corporate. The Homebuilding segment consists
of the following two business units:
Domestic Homebuilding, our core business, is engaged in the acquisition and
development of land principally for residential purposes within the continental
United States and the construction of housing on such land targeted for the
first-time, first and second move-up, and active adult home buyers.
International Homebuilding is primarily engaged in the acquisition and development
of land principally for residential purposes, and the construction of housing
on such land in Mexico, Puerto Rico and Argentina.
The Financial Services segment consists principally of mortgage banking and
title operations conducted through Pulte Mortgage and other subsidiaries.
We are dedicated to improving the quality and value of our domestic homes through
innovative proprietary architectural and community designs and state-of-the-art
customer marketing techniques. Analyzing various qualitative and quantitative
data obtained through extensive market research, we segment our potential customers
into well-defined buyer profiles. Segmentation analysis provides a method for
understanding the business opportunities and risks across the full spectrum
of consumer groups in each market. Once the demands of potential buyers are
understood, we link our home design and community development efforts to the
specific lifestyle of each targeted consumer group.
To meet the demands of our various domestic customers, we have established
a solid design expertise for a wide array of product lines. We believe that
we are an innovator in the design of our homes and we view design capacity as
an integral aspect of our marketing strategy. Our in-house architectural services
teams and management, supplemented by outside consultants, are successful in
creating distinctive design features, both in exterior facades and interior
options and features. In certain markets our strategy is to offer “the complete
house” in which all features shown in the home are included in the sales price.
Standard features typically offered include vaulted ceilings, appliances, and
a variety of available flooring and carpet.
Competition and other factors
Our dedication to customer satisfaction is evidenced by our consumer and value-based
brand approach to product development, and is something that we believe distinguishes
us in the homebuilding industry and contributes to our long-term competitive
advantage. The housing industry in the United States, however, is highly competitive.
In each of our market areas, there are numerous homebuilders with which we compete.
We also compete with the resales of existing house inventory. Any provider of
housing units, for-sale or to rent, including apartment builders, may be considered
a competitor. Conversion of apartments to condominiums further provides certain
segments of the population an alternative to traditional housing, as does manufactured
housing.
The mortgage industry in the United States is highly competitive. We compete
with other mortgage companies and financial institutions to provide attractive
mortgage financing to both our homebuyers and to the general public. The Internet
is also an important resource for homebuyers in obtaining financing as a number
of companies provide online approval for their customers. These Internet-based
mortgage companies may also be considered competitors.