From left to right: Doug Moran, national president; Robert Riva, general counsel and vice president; Patrick Zalupski, founder and chief executive officer; Anabel Ramsay, chief financial officer; and Batey McGraw, senior vice president of land. (credit: Agnes Lopez)
"The Builder of the Year Award is a highly anticipated honor that highlights the top builders in the country," says Builder editor-in-chief Steve Ladurantaye. "As we evaluated all the candidates for 2025, Dream Finders consistently emerged at the top. We congratulate them on their success and look forward to what the future holds."
"The most exciting part has been watching our talented employees grow and expand their responsibilities and really help take control of where DFH is heading," says founder and CEO Patrick Zalupski. "We could not be accomplishing our growth plans if it were not for the great and talented folks we have that take pride in their work every day."
Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, DFH is a publicly traded and locally operated company. As No. 14 on the 2025 Builder 100 list, the home builder had a busy 2024 reaching company records of 8,583 closings, a pre-tax income of $438 million, and home building revenues of $4.4 billion, which is an increase of 18% compared to 2023. As of the end of 2024, Dream Finders' land pipeline included almost 55,000 lots controlled.
DFH sells homes in over 220 communities across 10 states (Arizona, Colorado, Texas, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virgina, Maryland).
DFH acquired Crescent Homes last year, expanding into the markets of Charleston and Greenville in South Carolina and Nashville, Tennessee.
In early 2025, DFH entered the Atlanta, Georgia market and expanded further in Greenville, South Carolina through the acquisition of Liberty Communities.
DFH acquired the remaining 40% equity interest in its mortgage joint venture, Jet HomeLoans in July 2024, and recently completed the acquisition Cherry Creek Mortgage, LLC.
Dream Finders entered the Tampa, Florida market in late 2023, and Phoenix, Arizona market in early 2024; as well as expanded into key markets along Florida's southeast coast, and extended its reach into Southwest Florida, enhancing its presence in high-demand coastal markets.
Net new orders in the fourth quarter of 2024 were 1,611, an increase of 46% compared to 1,106 net new orders for the fourth quarter of 2023.
"It's not easy to deliver growth year after year and we have grown our business consistently every year for 16 years in a row, and are hopefully on track for growing a 17th year in 2025," adds Zalupski.
Previous Builder of the Year winners include United Homes (2024), Ashton Woods (2003), Landsea Homes (2022), Stanley Martin Homes (2021) and Taylor Morrison (2020). A full list of winners and their feature stories can be found on Builder Online. A full magazine profile of Dream Finders Homes will appear in the print edition out later in April.
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About Dream Finders Homes, Inc. Dream Finders Homes (NYSE: DFH) is a homebuilder based in Jacksonville, Florida. Dream Finders Homes builds single-family homes throughout the Southeast, Mid-Atlantic and Midwest, including Florida, Texas, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Colorado, Arizona, and the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, which comprises Northern Virginia and Maryland. Through its wholly owned subsidiaries, DFH also provides mortgage financing as well as title services to homebuyers. Dream Finders Homes achieves its industry-leading growth and returns by maintaining an asset-light homebuilding model. For more information, please visit dreamfindershomes.com.
