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KB Home KBH recently announced the opening of Somerset Meadows community in Longmont, Boulder County. A total of 199 single-family homes will be constructed under two distinct collections of homes – the Reserve and the Estate.

The community’s location will provide owners easy access to a recognized center for technology and advanced manufacturing companies. Along with this, Rocky Mountain National Park, major universities, shopping and dining facilities, parks, natural open spaces and trails will be within reach.

All houses in Somerset Meadows will be designed in an energy and water efficient manner since KB Home uses ENERGY STAR certification and WaterSense-labeled faucets and water fixtures. These features help owners reduce their monthly utility bills.

KB Home has been focusing on several strategic initiatives over the last few years to drive profit and revenues. One of its primary targets has been to increase community count.

The company regularly opens communities in highly favorable submarkets to drive growth. KB Home’s recently-opened communities include Hidden Canyons in Texas Research Park, Centerpointe in Downey, Shadow Glen in Marana, Promenade at and Communications Hill in San Jose.

However, at the end of the last reported quarter (fourth-quarter 2016), average community count was 231, down 8% year over year. It is expected to drop further in the first quarter of 2017 by about 2% to 4% year over year. The company expects community count to remain flat in 2017. Nonetheless, these new communities can be expected to drive the community count in the quarters ahead.

The company actively invests in land acquisition and development, mainly in high-end locations, which is critical for community count as well as top-line growth. The company invested $1.4 billion in land and development in fiscal 2016. It has already acquired land required for fiscal 2017, which is expected to generate a steady source of revenues going ahead.

Housing experts believe that the rapid growth in the economy and wages is driving the interest rate. Following the modest 25-basis point hike, the Fed has expressed its confidence in the U.S. economy and forecasts three hikes in 2017, up from the two projected in Sep 2016. Also, a booming economy boosts income. Thus, if the rise in income offsets the increase in mortgage payment, the housing market is likely to do just fine.

Investors should note that shares of KB home gained over 55% in the last one year compared to the Building-Residential/Commercial industry’s growth of 19.3%. Moreover, the company has an impressive earnings history, beating estimates in all of the past four quarters at an average of 12.3%. Earnings estimates, however, for this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock went down by 23.8% for the current quarter and 7.2% for the current year.