M/I Homes doubles down on specs as other builders pull back

As many homebuilders scale back on spec inventory to preserve margins, M/I Homes continues to hew to a contrarian strategy: More specs. During earnings calls for Q4 2025 and Q1 2026, M/I Homes executives reiterated their plans to maintain a spec-heavy playbook. The company’s Q2 2026 earnings call last week indicates that the M/I team will stay the course as an outlier.About 78% of M/I Homes’ second-quarter orders were for spec homes. During the call, M/I Homes executives said that the company kept spec inventory high due to the current rate and demand environment.The builder, ranked 11th in HousingWire’s Homebuilder Rankings, leaned on this steady supply of spec homes to boost overall sales volume. Executives say the company has been able to maintain elevated spec sales while controlling risk by improving construction cycle time to reduce overhead costs and concentrating inventory on precisely the right lots, home floor plans and elevations. Still, this spec inventory typically requires generous incentives and mortgage rate buydowns to sell. As a result, margins on these homes tend to fall below those of build-to-order homes. “That number varies from market to market. In nearly eve...