Pulte reports 16 percent decline in Houston-area home sales

A Pulte house in Del Webb Sweetgrass. A Pulte house in Del Webb Sweetgrass. Photo: James Nielsen, Staff Photo: James Nielsen, Staff Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Pulte reports 16 percent decline in Houston-area home sales 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

PulteGroup, one of Houston's largest home builders, reported sales were off 16 percent in this area last year, in part due to "the impact of lower oil prices on the local economy," the company said this week.

Statewide, sales of Pulte homes were down 10 percent, though slower activity in other Texas cities were more the result of tight labor markets and weather-related delays in opening new communities, the company said in an annual document filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission Monday.

Orders for new homes in the Houston area fell 19 percent in 2015.

Pulte ranked no. 7 on the latest Chronicle 100 survey of most active builders. In Texas, the company's average home price was up last year by 10 percent to $250,000.

Pulte's homebuilding brands include Pulte Homes, Centex and Del Webb, which is developing a new retirement community in The Woodlands.