Building permits are a builder's public paper trail: every new house needs one, and the permit names who's building it. Counting the addresses each builder permitted from January through September 2026, across the 21 North Carolina permit offices TarSignal read at the time, gives a fair picture of who is putting up the state's new homes.
21,891
Addresses with a new-construction permit, January–September 2026
1,347
Lennar, the most active builder, in 8 counties
21%
Share filed by the four biggest: Lennar, D.R. Horton, NVR and PulteGroup
36%
Share filed by the 15 builders below
| # | Builder | Addresses | Counties | Median stated value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lennar | 1,347 | 8 | $361,000 |
| 2 | D.R. Horton | 1,179 | 9 | $338,000 |
| 3 | NVR (Ryan Homes) | 1,104 | 6 | $288,000 |
| 4 | PulteGroup | 893 | 9 | $399,000 |
| 5 | Meritage Homes | 602 | 5 | $399,000 |
| 6 | DRB Homes | 444 | 6 | $232,000 |
| 7 | Stanley Martin | 420 | 7 | $269,000 |
| 8 | True Homes | 381 | 8 | $194,000 |
| 9 | Taylor Morrison | 293 | 4 | $291,000 |
| 10 | Dream Finders Homes | 261 | 3 | $393,000 |
| 11 | Mungo Homes | 237 | 1 | $445,000 |
| 12 | Logan Developers (Logan Homes) | 192 | 1 | $427,000 |
| 13 | Garman Homes | 191 | 3 | $324,000 |
| 14 | Tri Pointe Homes | 186 | 3 | $188,000 |
| 15 | Toll Brothers | 164 | 4 | $369,000 |
The national builders dominate, and spread wide
The four biggest each permitted homes in at least six counties. D.R. Horton and PulteGroup filed in nine each, from Brunswick County on the coast to Guilford and Mecklenburg. D.R. Horton's single biggest market was Brunswick County, where it permitted 444 addresses; Lennar's footprint stretched from Wake and Johnston to Buncombe County in the mountains.
Regional builders own their home markets
Further down the list, concentration is the strategy. Mungo Homes' 237 addresses were all in Durham County, at a median stated value of $445,000, the highest on the list. Logan Homes built only in Brunswick County, and Garman Homes mostly in Wake. For a sub or supplier, a builder like that is one relationship that covers a whole territory.
How these were counted
- Each builder's permits are grouped across the names they file under: NVR's include Ryan Homes, D.R. Horton's include its Emerald Homes trade name, and spelling variations are combined.
- Counts are distinct addresses with a permit in TarSignal's new-construction category, filed January 1 to September 30, 2026, in the 21 offices we read then. They're not every home a builder started in North Carolina.
- Counts are a floor. Some offices, Mecklenburg County especially, record a permit expediting service rather than the builder on many permits, and those can't be credited to a builder.
- Stated value is the construction cost on the permit, not the sale price, and offices measure it differently.
Every builder in the table has a contractor page on TarSignal with its permits by county and month, and Permit Search filters any area's new homes by builder.