Pulte Home, Citing Recession, Pulls Back in California : Real estate: The firm announces that its Orange County division president has resigned.

Pulte Home Corp. of Detroit, one of the nation’s largest residential builders, has fallen victim to the recession and plans to curtail its push into Southern California.

As a result, Craig Johnson has resigned as president of Pulte’s Newport Beach-based Southern California division, according to the company.

Pulte is one of several major home builders to have announced restructurings in recent weeks because of the continuing depression of the California home-building industry. Industry insiders say that dozens of other building firms are doing likewise without publicizing the fact.

Johnson, according to a statement Pulte released Friday, decided to leave the company rather than continue overseeing the sharp reduction of its home-building activities in Southern California.

Johnson could not be reached for comment. Pulte’s statement, however, said that Johnson intends to start his own residential development firm.

David Ebling, a vice president of Pulte Home Corp., will head the company’s remaining Southern California operations.

In the statement, Pulte said it has been reducing its Southland residential development activities for more than a year--delaying construction on some projects, canceling land-purchase agreements and cutting home prices in some developments to help sell its standing inventory.

Although it located its Southern California division headquarters in Orange County, the company--which builds mainly mid- and high-priced homes and condominiums--has been most active in San Diego, Riverside and San Bernardino counties. One of its major projects is a 630-acre planned community in the Murietta area of Riverside County.

Pulte said in its statement that the decision to reduce its Southland activity is part of a process it has undertaken in several areas of the country “and is a normal reaction to business cycles which occur in the industry.”

The company will continue to build and sell homes in Southern California, the statement said, and will honor its warranties on homes already sold.