Beazer Homes, a home-building company with operations in 19 states, announced in its latest quarterly financial statement that home-building revenue was up about 30.1 percent in the three months ending March 31 compared with the same period last year. And for the six-month period ending March 31, home-building revenue was up 22.2 percent over that period in 2003.
Average sales price per home closed was up most dramatically in the West region, with home prices up 17.2 percent in the first three months of this year compared with the same period last year, from $237,800 in 2003 to $278,600 in 2004. Average sales prices in the Mid-Atlantic region, by contrast, declined about 0.2 percent in the six-month period ending March 31 compared with the same period last year, from $331,000 to $330,200.
The number of new orders (net of cancellations) dropped 18.8 percent in the Mid-Atlantic region and 14.2 percent in the Midwest region in the first three months of 2004 compared with the first three months of 2003, Beazer reported, though new orders were up by 9.9 percent overall. Also, the number of closings was down by 23.5 percent in the Central region and 15.9 percent in the Midwest region from the first three months of 2003 to the same period in 2004, but up 11.7 percent overall.
The number of backlog units jumped 57.2 percent in the West from the first three months of 2003 to the first three months of 2004, from 2,324 to 2,546 while dropping 20.2 percent in the Midwest region. Overall, the number of backlog units was up 13.5 percent in that period. The number of active subdivisions climbed 6.3 percent for the first three months of 2003 compared with the first three months of 2004, Beazer also reported.
Beazer, a specialist in designing, selling and building single-family homes for entry-level and first-time move-up home buyers, announced plans to be one of the five largest builders in each of the markets that it serves. Beazer focuses on the following states: Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, Texas, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio. Beazer also provides mortgage origination services for its home buyers through Beazer Mortgage and Crossmann Mortgage.
Beazer had about $829 million worth of homes under construction, $1 billion in development projects in progress, $60 million in unimproved land held for future development, $84 million in model homes, and $284 million in consolidated inventory not owned as of March 31. By comparison, Beazer had about $659 million in homes under construction and $919 million in development projects in progress as of Sept. 30, 2003.
For the six months ending March 31, Beazer had $1.7 billion in total revenue and $96 million in net income, compared with $1.4 billion in total revenue and $75 million in net income for the same period a year earlier.
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