The nation’s biggest homebuilder has adopted an AI-based platform for land acquisition.
D.R. Horton contracted with Prophetic, which collates zoning restrictions, parcel ownership data, topography, environmental regulations and market activity on one platform designed to generate site plans and yield estimates for subdivision homebuilders more quickly.
The startup was founded in Portland, Oregon, last year.
The software has been compared to CityBldr, a platform that uses machine learning to find underutilized or high-potential development sites for commercial real estate. The company has other homebuilder clients, including Century Communities, but Texas-based D.R. Horton is its biggest yet.
Prophetic has parcel data from over 20 states so far, and it will expand to more than 30 states in time for D.R. Horton to implement it, said Prophetic CEO Oliver Alexander, who is the founder of remote job board Remotely and of the rural clinic chain Orchid Health.
The company aims to have parcel data from all 50 states by June.
“We have national availability of recorder and assessor data, as well as MLS data, as well as a ton of environmental diligence layers, as we call them,” Alexander said.
That environmental information includes flood zones, wetlands, power lines that may bisect the site, school zones, soil data and toxicity issues.
Prophetic also tracks legal documents for each parcel, such as easements.
“A couple hundred parcels a month is normal for a productive person on a land team. We have users doing 5,700 parcels a month,” Alexander said.
D.R. Horton closed 84,863 homes during the fiscal year ending Sept 30, a 5 percent decrease year over year.
The company also ended the year with a smaller inventory than the year before, including 19,600 unsold homes, compared to 25,700 homes unsold at the end of September 2024.
In a market of cautious buyers, D.R. Horton has been leaning on sales incentives to close deals, offering rate buydowns, closing-cost assistance and free upgrades.
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