Pulte still No. 1 in customer satisfaction

For the second year in a row, Pulte Home Corp. ranks highest in customer satisfaction in the Las Vegas market, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2001 New-Home Builder Customer Satisfaction Study released last week.

Following Pulte in the rankings are Del Webb Corp. and Pardee Homes, respectively.

The study, conducted in 10 of the largest home-building markets in the United States, indicates that customer satisfaction is heavily dependent upon whether builders can deliver on customer demands for high-quality homes that are available when promised.

"Customers want new homes of the highest quality and they want them built on time," said Paula Sonkin, an executive at J.D. Power and Associates. "Historically, quality of workmanship and materials has been the most important factor driving overall satisfaction among new-home buyers. However, our 2001 study results show that consumers expect a high-quality product from the start, so they don't have to disrupt their busy schedules to address problems that may arise once they're living in their new home."

Nine factors drive overall customer satisfaction with a builder. The top four factors -- customer service (23 percent), home readiness (18 percent), sales staff (16 percent) and quality of workmanship/materials (14 percent) -- represent more than 70 percent of the overall satisfaction score. The remaining five factors in the study include price/value (10 percent), physical design elements (7 percent), design center (5 percent), recreational facilities (4 percent) and location (3 percent).

The study indicates that while some of these remaining factors are very important when home buyers are selecting a builder, they become less important once the home buyer occupies the home. The study includes feedback from new-home buyers who have lived in their homes between 4 months and 16 months on average.

"Convenience for the homeowner is key," Sonkin said. "Every additional contact required between homeowner and builder to solve a problem tends to result in lower satisfaction with the builder. It's definitely in the best interest of the builder to get it right the first time."

More than 3,800 homeowners evaluated 27 builders in the Las Vegas market. Overall, Las Vegas home builders achieved the second highest customer satisfaction scores among all 10 markets surveyed. The other markets are: Charlotte, N.C.; Chicago, Ill.; Dallas/Ft. Worth, Texas; Denver, Colo.; Houston, Texas; Orlando, Fla.; Phoenix, Ariz.; San Diego/Southern California; and Washington, D.C.

New-home builders must have closed on 150 homes or more in each market during 2000 to be included in the 2001 study.

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