Lennar Finding Florida Market Not So Sunny

In red-hot housing markets around the country, most homebuilders have enacted strict anti-flipping clauses to deter speculators from buying in their new communities. Now, Lennar(LEN Quote), one of the country's largest builders, has quietly taken the unusual move of dropping the restrictions at several of its South Florida developments.

Local brokers say the decision shows just how much Lennar needs the flippers to keep order numbers up at certain communities.

Over the past year, speculators have been portrayed as the cockroaches of the housing industry. These pesky investors who buy homes with the intent of flipping them for a quick profit have been blamed for much of the supposedly irrational pricing in markets such as Miami, Phoenix and Las Vegas. ...