Dubai-based firm buys California home builder for $1 billion

The San Jose Mercury reports:

A real estate company based in United Arab Emirates acquired California home builder John Laing Homes for $1 billion in cash.

Newport Beach-based John Laing is the second-largest privately held home builder in the United States.

Its acquisition marks the first U.S. venture by Dubai-based Emaar Properties, one of the world's largest developers.

"This agreement will provide Emaar with an important gateway into the U.S. real estate market," Mohamed Ali Alabbar, Emaar's chairman, said in a statement Thursday.

Some analysts suggested the deal, coming at a time when the nation's real estate market is slowing, may signal growing interest by foreign companies in the sector that is expected to see further consolidation after a five-year boom.

"It certainly bodes well for the long-term real estate market in this country, because you have a foreign company investing in a U.S.-based home builder," said Patrick Duffy, managing director of industry market research firm Hanley Wood Market Intelligence.

I'll bet a lot of people are hoping foreign buyers hold up the real estate market.