East Texas Business

By DANNY MOGLE
Assistant Managing Editor

Perry B. Hall Co. is reducing its home construction division and selling its commercial brokerage and property management divisions, Chairman and CEO Perry Hall, said Monday.

The home-building division, Perry Hall Homes, has let go seven employees, he said.

"Clearly new home sales in Texas have been affected by the toughening of credit markets and the Wall Street and Washington dynamics," Hall said. "We have remained at the same size as we were a year ago but have come to the realization that both the local market and our firm are no longer isolated from the rest of the country."

According to First American CoreLogic, a provider of real estate, property and ownership data, sales of single-family homes decreased by 12 percent in Tyler in September compared to the same time last year.

The number of new and existing home sales decreased with 249 sales transactions reported for September 2008, compared to 283 in September 2007. Of the total transactions, sales of new homes for September of this year totaled 21, First American CoreLogic reported.

Tyler Area Builders Association showas lLast year 883 single-family homes were built in Smith County. New home construction starts in Smith County are down but not significantly, said Kathey Comer, TABA executive vice president.

According to The Real Estate Center at Texas A&M, Tyler has a 10.6-month inventory of existing homes and Longview has a 6.4-month existing home inventory.

"Clearly we do not need the staffing to support the number of homes that we have built in the past in the Tyler market," Hall said.

Hall said he builds homes that typically sell in the $150,000 to $225,000 range and customers in this market are often choosing pre-owned homes instead of new homes.

"New homes will be built in our markets, but the consumer will have less selection as builders have scaled back in response to the market," he said.

A four-person marketing staff, two construction personnel and Perry and Maggie Hall remain at Perry Hall Homes.

"(We) regret that these actions were necessary. We remain in business as Perry Hall Homes and this process should have minimal impact on our customers," he said.

The commercial brokerage division is being acquired by the company's three principal brokers, Matthew Marshall, Don Carroll, and Brian Burks, who are forming a new entity and will take over the listings for lease and sale.

The property management division is being sold to Lone Star Association Management, Inc., a firm based in Frisco.

Based in Tyler and with offices in Longview, Perry B. Hall Co. has been in business since 1997.