First-time homeownership is our core focus
KB Home was founded in 1957 on the idea that we could challenge conventional assumptions about homebuilding in order to make homeownership more affordable for more people. Our customers represent a wide range of backgrounds and experiences, and first-time homebuyers have long been the core of our business. Helping them drives us each day.
In 2022, 53% of our KB homebuyers were purchasing a home for the first time.
Building homes that are attainable for buyers in each of our markets
As a homebuilder with a focus on helping first-time buyers achieve homeownership, we pay a lot of attention to what affordability means in different parts of the country.
Our goal is to build homes in each of our markets that are generally priced to be affordable for people with household incomes within a range of the local area’s median level. To meet that goal, we evaluate potential land purchases and product design decisions on their potential to serve local median-income households and carefully balance sales prices with affordability for these households.
We try to maintain affordability by reducing our costs through our data-driven approach to product and design efficiencies, materials and resource conservation efforts, and strong trade partnerships that leverage economies of scale. At the same time, our focus on energy efficiency helps to lower the total cost of homeownership after our buyers get their keys.
With our Built to Order™ approach, personalization and affordability go hand in hand
That’s because we give our homebuyers a wide array of choices to craft the new home that fits their particular lifestyle and priorities, including homesite, floor plan, elevation and structural options. Our homebuyers can visit our KB Home Design Studio, where they get both advice and the opportunity to select from a broad range of included features, design options and upgrades that will help personalize their home. When customers build a new home with us, they also enjoy choosing exactly what they want and paying only for what matters most to them. This helps to meet homebuyers’ priorities at price points attainable to them.
A broad product mix, including traditional smaller single-family new homes expands attainability
Our home designs, just like our customers, consist of a broad mix that includes traditionally smaller, single-family homes, a segment of the market that has been declining in recent decades. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 1999, single- family homes under 1,800 square feet made up 37% of new homes. In recent years, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, home sizes have increased significantly. We believe that traditionally smaller, single-family homes are an important part of the market to serve because they help to address affordability for buyers who prefer single-family homes and because greater variety in housing supports more socially diverse and economically sustainable neighborhoods.
In 2022, 86% of KB Home communities offered homes of 1,800 square feet or less, and 33% offered homes that were under 1,400 square feet.