D R Horton — Business Overview
What does D.R. Horton do?
D.R. Horton is the largest homebuilder in the United States by volume, constructing and selling homes across a broad range of price points and buyer types. The company has closed more than 1.2 million homes in its 47-year history and has held the top spot in volume every year since 2002. In fiscal 2025, it closed 84,863 homes at an average price of $370,400, generating $34.3 billion in total consolidated revenue. About 84% of home sales came from single-family detached homes, with the rest from attached products like townhomes and duplexes.
The company operates through five main business lines:
| Segment | What it does | Share of Revenue |
|---|---|---|
| Homebuilding | Builds and sells homes across entry-level, move-up, active adult, and luxury categories | ~92% |
| Rental | Builds single-family and multi-family communities to lease and sell in bulk | Small but growing |
| Forestar (62%-owned) | Publicly traded lot development company; sells finished lots, 83% of which go to D.R. Horton | Separate entity |
| Financial Services | Mortgage origination (DHI Mortgage) and title insurance for homebuyers | Smaller portion |
| Other | Insurance, water rights, ranch land, non-residential real estate | Immaterial |
How does D.R. Horton make money?
The core revenue engine is selling completed homes, which drives nearly all of the company's $34.3 billion in fiscal 2025 revenue. D.R. Horton builds homes using subcontractors, manages costs centrally through national purchasing contracts, and sells primarily through commissioned in-house sales staff supplemented by independent real estate brokers.
Two supporting revenue streams add scale and stickiness to the homebuilding core. DHI Mortgage originated or brokered 68,982 loans in fiscal 2025, covering 81% of the company's own homebuyers. Importantly, DHI Mortgage sells the loans and servicing rights to third parties after closing, so it earns origination fees rather than holding long-term credit risk. The title subsidiary earns fees for issuing title insurance and handling closing services on the same transactions.
The rental segment generates revenue by building communities, leasing units to establish occupancy, and then selling the entire community to investors in bulk. In fiscal 2025, the company sold 3,460 single-family rental homes and 2,947 multi-family units this way. This is a build-to-sell-to-investors model rather than a traditional landlord model.
What market does D.R. Horton operate in?
D.R. Horton operates in the U.S. residential housing market, which is driven by population growth, household formation, employment levels, mortgage rates, and the chronic under-supply of homes relative to demand in many metropolitan areas. The company focuses heavily on first-time and first-time move-up buyers, the largest segment of the market, with homes ranging from $250,000 to over $1,000,000.
The housing market is cyclical but has structural tailwinds. Years of under-building following the 2008 financial crisis created a nationwide inventory shortage. At the same time, rising mortgage interest rates have pressured affordability for buyers, creating a headwind the company acknowledges through competitive pricing and mortgage rate incentives. The lot development industry, served through Forestar, is described as fragmented, suggesting ongoing consolidation opportunity.
Who are D.R. Horton's main competitors?
The U.S. homebuilding industry includes a mix of large national builders and many smaller local and regional operators. D.R. Horton competes with other publicly traded national builders such as Lennar, PulteGroup, NVR, and Taylor Morrison, as well as thousands of smaller local builders. The company also competes against the existing (resale) home market and rental properties for the same buyers.
D.R. Horton claims meaningful advantages from its size and scale. These include lower borrowing costs due to balance sheet strength, volume discounts on materials and labor from national supplier contracts, and the ability to spread overhead across a larger revenue base. Its decentralized operating model — 92 local divisions making market-level decisions — is meant to combine national purchasing power with local market knowledge. The lot pipeline controlled through Forestar is another structural advantage: owning 62% of a dedicated lot supplier gives D.R. Horton priority access to finished lots in 64 markets across 23 states, which is harder for smaller builders to replicate.
Where does D.R. Horton operate?
D.R. Horton operates exclusively in the United States, with no international exposure mentioned in the filing. Its footprint spans 126 markets across 36 states, organized into six regional reporting segments: Northwest, Southwest, South Central, Southeast, East, and North. Texas is visibly prominent, with markets including Dallas, Houston, Fort Worth, Austin, and San Antonio, among many others.
The company's geographic diversification is intentional and functions as a risk management tool. By spreading inventory investment across dozens of local markets, the company aims to reduce its exposure to any single regional economic downturn. Both homebuilding and lot development (through Forestar) occur domestically; all construction is performed by local subcontractors. The company employs 14,341 people total as of September 30, 2025.