REAL ESTATE

The rush to buy land in Southern California continues. Costain Homes Inc., the Newport Beach unit of a British home builder, said it bought 26 acres for $3 million in Pulte Home Corp.’s planned community of Silverhawk in Rancho California, where it will build 126 single-family houses.

Costain has already bought 97 acres in Victorville this year and exercised an option to buy another tract in western Riverside County for a golf community for the elderly.

Meanwhile Centennial Group Inc. in Orange said its Centennial Estate Inc. unit--a builder of inexpensive, entry-level homes--recently bought 240 acres with 909 residential lots in Lancaster for $13.2 million from Hill Top Developers Inc.

Centennial said it had already sold 267 lots for $3.9 million to Ahmanson Development Inc., an Irvine home builder, and would probably sell another 300. Centennial will develop the remaining 300 lots, the company said.