By Kris Hudson | The Wall Street Journal
Many economists predict home prices this year will increase by roughly half of their percentage gain in 2013, when they rose by an average of 11.3%, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller national index of home prices. The direction of home prices heavily influences what home builders will pay for land.
“Unless home prices go higher, I don’t see land [prices] going much higher,” says Mr. Perot, whose Hillwood Development Co. owns 9,400 residential acres in seven states. His father founded Electronic Data Systems and was a presidential candidate in 1992 and 1996. “Land’s about as expensive as it can be.”