KB Home inks deal to buy 664 SoCal land parcels

By The Associated Press
Thursday, June 3, 2010 at 11:47 a.m.

LOS ANGELES — KB Home said Thursday it has agreed to buy 664 home sites in Southern California and plans to use some of the land parcels to open eight new communities this year.

The homebuilder did not disclose financial terms of the deal with land developer Lewis Operating Corp.

The home sites are located about 50 miles east of Los Angeles. The bulk of the parcels, some 490 sites, are in the unincorporated Eastvale area near Corona, Calif. The rest are north of Fontana.

Several of the industry's largest companies, including Hovnanian Enterprises Inc., Toll Brothers Inc., and Ryland Group Inc., have been taking advantage of falling land values to buy home sites in recent months.

KB Home, which is based in Los Angeles, has operations in 10 states.

Shares in KB Home slipped 19 cents to $13.82 in afternoon trading Thursday.

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