In Depth Analysis: CalculatedRisk Newsletter on Real Estate (Ad Free) Read it here.

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Lawler: Home Builders: On Balance, Strong Results

by Calculated Risk on 10/25/2012 04:17:00 PM

From economist Tom Lawler:

Several publicly-traded home builders posted results for the quarter ended September 30th this week, and the general theme was strong net orders, slightly lower cancellation rates, higher margins/lower concessions, and higher home sales prices. Below are some summary stats.

Average sales prices, of course, don’t necessarily reflect gains in “constant-quality” homes, but are affected by changes in the type of homes sold and the regional mix of homes sold. Nevertheless, most home builders appear to be selling homes at “effective” prices well above a year ago.

The combined order backlog of the five builders on September 30th, 2012 was 17,907, up 42.2% from last September.

New OrdersSettlements
Qtr. Ended:9/30/20129/30/2011% Chg9/30/20129/30/2011% Chg
PulteGroup4,5443,56427.5%4,4184,1985.2%
NVR2,5582,21815.3%2,6562,25517.8%
The Ryland Group1,5071,00849.5%1,3221,01530.2%
Meritage Homes1,20490632.9%1,19784042.5%
M/I Homes75758729.0%74658228.2%
Total10,5708,28327.6%10,3398,89016.3%

Average Closing Price
Qtr. Ended:9/30/20129/30/2011% Chg
PulteGroup$279,000 $262,000 6.5%
NVR$321,700 $308,900 4.1%
The Ryland Group$264,000 $249,000 6.0%
Meritage Homes$280,000 $259,000 8.1%
M/I Homes$266,000 $238,000 11.8%
Total$287,229 $270,558 6.2%