Providence Homes was started earlier this year by Mitch Davis, 42, a former vice president of the now-defunct CP Morgan Homes; and Brian Mann, 44, managing partner of Mann Properties.

Two more local homebuilders fell victim in 2009 to the prolonged meltdown of the housing market. Carmel-based C.P. Morgan Communities LP closed in February, and Indianapolis-based Hansen & Horn Group Inc. is teetering on the edge of bankruptcy.

At the market's peak, builders churned out more than 12,000 new homes a year in central Indiana. In the current slump, new-home production has dropped to fewer than 7,000 per year, leaving builders with no choice but to slash prices, eliminate hundreds of jobs, and look to unload huge chunks of office space.