Lennar has $7.33 billion in land deposits while LGI owns 86% of its lots

Lennar, run by Executive Chairman and CEO Stuart Miller, had $7.33 billion of deposits and pre-acquisition costs on land at Aug. 31, up from $6.38 billion at Nov. 30 ^[2]. Miller’s company owns fewer than 2.5% of the roughly 488,000 homesites it controls ^[1]. At the other end, LGI Homes owned 50,270 of its 58,400 lots at Sept. 30 ^[11].

Big builders are also dropping options they no longer want. PulteGroup walked away from about 8,000 optioned lots in its third quarter, and CEO Ryan Marshall said the company “can and will walk away” from lots “that no longer meet return hurdles” ^[13]. D.R. Horton held 77% of its 570,600 lots under purchase contracts at Sept. 30 ^[14].

Lennar and Dream Finders have the most money at risk in deposits

Lennar’s write-offs of option deposits and related costs rose to $223.9 million in the first nine months from $146.9 million ^[2]. Dream Finders had $807.5 million at risk in option and land bank deposits and fees at Sept. 30 ^[12].

We calculate that Meritage’s $170.8 million of deposits on 36,644 optioned lots averages about $4,660 a lot ^[5].

Builders that own land are holding more of it

Green Brick’s owned lots rose 11.4% from a year earlier to 40,869 ^[10]. Meritage’s land held for development, held for sale or mothballed rose to $267.3 million from $164.4 million at the end of 2025 ^[5]. KB Home owns about 60% of its 61,581 lots and raised land acquisition and development spending 40% to $722.3 million in its latest quarter ^[3].

Century moved the other way, with owned lots down 8.3% to 33,473 and optioned lots up 6.8% to 27,496 ^[6]. M/I Homes had 3,242 homes under construction without a buyer at Sept. 30, up from 2,779 at the end of 2025 ^[9].

How to use this

For land and lot sellers

1. Use public deposit levels as your opening ask. M/I’s deposits equal about 4.6% of the price of the lots it has under option, we calculate from $78.4 million against about $1.7 billion ^[9], so a 2% deposit offer sits well below that.
2. Make the deposit non-refundable when due diligence ends and set takedowns on a fixed schedule. Lennar’s write-offs of option deposits and related costs rose to $224 million in nine months ^[2], a sign that builders give up deposits when a deal stops working.
3. Pitch outright sales to the builders that own most of their land. Green Brick owns about 79.5% of its lots ^[10] and LGI about 86% ^[11], while Lennar holds almost all of its homesites through options ^[1].

For land bankers and lot lenders

1. Price each builder’s takedown risk from its own write-off history. Century’s option abandonment charges fell to $4.4 million in nine months ^[7], while Lennar’s rose about 52%, we calculate ^[2].
2. Note that land bank balances on builders’ books are shrinking. Lennar’s consolidated inventory not owned fell to $1.41 billion from $1.70 billion at Nov. 30 ^[2], and Dream Finders’ fell to $17.7 million from $70.0 million ^[12].

For investors

1. Check owned land against falling prices. Green Brick owns most of its lots and its average delivered price fell 12.1% ^[10], so a write-down could fall on its own balance sheet rather than on a land seller.
2. Track Meritage’s idle land. A further rise from $267.3 million ^[5] would suggest more land waiting for demand to return.