From housing economist Tom Lawler:
Below is a table showing some selected operating statistics from large, publicly-traded home builders for the quarter ending March 31, 2016.
Here a few (of what could be many) points.
1. In terms of units, 27% of D.R. Horton’s net orders last quarter were from its “entry level” Express brand, up from 18% in the first quarter of last year. Express comprised 23% of Horton’s deliveries last quarter, up from 8% a year earlier.
2. Both Meritage Homes and MDC Holdings said that they either had or were to planning to increase production of lower priced homes (“entry-level-plus” in Mertigage’s case, and their “new, more affordable product line” in MDC’s case.
3. Meritage Homes said that its margins were in “a handful” of communities in Southern California and Arizona that it acquired in 2013 were adversely impacted by the reduction in FHA loan limits in those markets effective at the beginning of 2014. Specifically, the company said that “(w)hen those loan limits were reduced, we weren’t able to get the prices we were expecting …”
| Net Orders | Settlements | Average Closing Price ($000s) |
|||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qtr. Ended: | 3/16 | 3/15 | % Chg | 3/16 | 3/15 | % Chg | 3/16 | 3/15 | % Chg |
| D.R. Horton | 12,292 | 11,135 | 10.4% | 9,262 | 8,243 | 12.4% | 290 | 281 | 3.1% |
| Pulte Group |
5,652 | 5,139 | 10.0% | 3,945 | 3,365 | 17.2% | 353 | 323 | 9.3% |
| NVR | 4,137 | 3,926 | 5.4% | 3,006 | 2,534 | 18.6% | 369 | 371 | -0.4% |
| Cal Atlantic |
4,135 | 3,960 | 4.4% | 2,727 | 2,435 | 12.0% | 432 | 398 | 8.5% |
| Beazer Homes | 1,538 | 1,698 | -9.4% | 1,150 | 936 | 22.9% | 328 | 306 | 7.3% |
| Meritage Homes | 1,987 | 1,979 | 0.4% | 1,488 | 1,335 | 11.5% | 400 | 387 | 3.4% |
| MDC Holdings | 1,646 | 1,593 | 3.3% | 907 | 909 | -0.2% | 435 | 420 | 3.6% |
| M/I Homes | 1,314 | 1,108 | 18.6% | 876 | 717 | 22.2% | 353 | 325 | 8.6% |
| Sub Total |
32,701 | 30,538 | 7.1% | 23,361 | 20,474 | 14.1% | 344 | 329 | 4.7% |
| LGI Homes | 844 | 671 | 25.8% | ||||||
| Total | 32,701 | 30,538 | 7.1% | 24,205 | 21,145 | 14.5% | 332 | 318 | 4.4% |