TTOLToll Brothers, Inc.

Toll Brothers builds expensive houses — for a buyer who needs a mortgage less than most.

The upper end of the market behaves differently: a substantial share of buyers pay cash or sell a previous home, so rising rates hit demand less than at affordable-housing builders. The house is built to order with chosen finishes, and that personalisation carries an extra mark-up.

The flip side is a long cycle: years pass between buying a plot and handing over a house, capital is frozen in land, and demand can change in the meantime. The company is gradually shifting to optioned lots so as not to hold land on the balance sheet. Risks: the affluent buyer's mood, lot prices and labour costs. A dividend is paid and buybacks are active.