Horton, Beazer post record losses

Home builders D.R. Horton Inc. and Beazer Homes USA Inc. on Thursday reported record third-quarter losses on write-downs for unsold homes and options for land.

D.R. Horton, the second-largest U.S. home builder, posted a net loss of $823.8 million, or $2.62 a share. Beazer had a third-quarter loss of $123 million, or $3.20 a share.

The worst housing slump in 16 years has left seven home builders nursing losses of $1.8 billion and expenses of more than $2.8 billion as property values fall and land purchases are abandoned.

Shares of D.R. Horton fell 32 cents, or 1.8%, to $17.16. Beazer slid $1.48, or 8.7%, to $15.56. A Standard & Poor’s measure of 16 home builders declined 2.2%, pushing its loss for the year to 35%.

The results come as purchases of new homes in the U.S. dropped more than forecast in June and two home builders reported losses Wednesday. Home sales fell 6.6%, the most since January, to an annual pace of 834,000 last month from a revised 893,000 rate the prior month that was less than previously estimated, the Commerce Department said.

Pulte Homes Inc. and Ryland Group Inc. reported a combined quarterly net loss of $560 million after recording $897 million in land-related charges. On Tuesday, Centex Corp. reported a net loss for the first quarter.

Meritage Homes Corp., a Scottsdale, Ariz.-based builder of single-family homes in the Southern and Western U.S., Thursday reported a net loss of $56.6 million, or $2.16 a share, in the second quarter, compared with a profit of $77 million, or $2.82, a year earlier.

The company said new orders for its homes fell 18% to 1,734 homes. The average selling price of those homes was down 12% to $289,000 and the number of homes sold fell 32% to 1,858. The company’s backlog of unsold homes at the end of June was 3,838 homes, worth a combined $1.2 billion, a 34% decline from 5,849 homes worth $2 billion in June of last year.

The company had write-downs of $70 million.

Shares of Meritage fell $1.38 before the earnings announcement to $19.68, a 6.6% decline.

D.R. Horton’s charges totaled $1.28 billion in the third quarter. Revenue tumbled 29% to $2.55 billion, the Fort Worth-based company said.

At Beazer Homes, the company took $123 million in pretax charges for inventory impairments and to abandon land option contracts.

Revenue declined 37% to $761 million, the Atlanta-based company said.