To Attract Home Buyers, Developers Build Schools First

Homebuilders have touted local schools, along with parks and recreation facilities, to attract buyers to their communities for decades. Now, as school districts face tight budgets and homebuilders compete to draw families able to qualify for mortgages, developers are taking the lead, helping to launch public, private, and charter schools. Sales of new single-family homes have trailed the broader housing recovery, in part because buyers balk at high prices or the remote neighborhoods where more affordable residences are available. New home sales fell 14.5% in March from February to an annual pace of 384,000, according to the US Department of Commerce.