Meritage Homes is the fifth-largest homebuilder in the U.S., building and selling single-family attached and detached homes. Meritage focuses almost exclusively on entry-level and first move-up buyers, with an ASP around $384,000, well below the national median. The company operates in 25 markets across 12 states, concentrated in Sun Belt geographies including Texas, Arizona, Florida, the Carolinas, Georgia, and Tennessee. Meritage's defining strategic choice is its 100% speculative ("spec") building model — rather than building to individual buyer orders, Meritage pre-starts all homes with pre-selected plans and finishes, then sells them when they are near or fully complete. This allows Meritage to guarantee buyers a home closing-ready within 60 days of contract. Meritage sells primarily through third-party real estate brokers, with over 90% of closings co-brokered. Meritage's revenue is driven by homes closed and ASP. The company targets 4 net sales per community per month, the rate at which fixed costs are best leveraged. Its primary demand management tool is mortgage rate buydowns, which reduce buyer monthly payments but compress ASP and gross margin. Land cost is the other key margin driver, reflecting acquisition and development costs from 18-24 months prior. Meritage is in an active community count expansion phase, growing from 270 communities at year-end 2023 to 336 at year-end 2025. The company also returns significant capital to shareholders through buybacks and dividends while maintaining an investment-grade balance sheet.