Lennar Corp., the largest U.S. homebuilder, reported an unexpected second-quarter loss.
Chief Executive Officer Stuart Miller said he sees no sign of a housing recovery
“Market conditions have eroded so much over the past six months we are now focused on limiting the loss this year,” Miller said on a conference call. “The supply of homes available for purchase has continued to climb while at the same time demand has been sharply reduced.”
Lennar was projected to report a second quarter profit of 7 cents a share, excluding some items, according to the average estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.
Orders tumbled 41 percent in its central region of Arizona, Colorado and Texas.
Losses on land sales totaled $108.8 million in the second quarter, compared with a profit of $41.1 million a year earlier. The value of the company’s backlog, or homes under contract and not yet sold, fell 56 percent to $2.8 billion. Lennar’s cancellation rate was 29 percent.