Publicly traded homebuilders were tested in the most recent quarter by slowing volume and political and economic factors, but proved resilient as they navigated through various challenges.
Companies reported shrinking profits but still posted positive numbers, with falling mortgage rates providing some boost, even as consumer sentiment languishes.
Although the
Following are key numbers reported by some of the major builders In their recent earnings releases.
M/I Homes
Columbus, Ohio-based M/I Homes, with operations across the Central and Southern U.S,, reported overall profit of $106.5 million over the third quarter, with the number pulling back 26.8% from $145.4 one year earlier and 12.2% from $121.2 three months ago.
Homebuilding operations brought in $1.1 billion in revenue, edging down from $1.11 billion in third quarter 2024.
M/I managed to increase lending revenue, though, to $34.6 million from $30 million, contributing to a noticeable boost in segment pretax income to $16.6 million from $12.9 million.
The lower bottom line number came as new home contracts pulled back 5.6% year over year, falling to 1,908 from 2,023 on a year-over-year basis. Closings increased, though, by 1.1% to 2,296 units from 2,271. The latest number of closed units was the highest ever for a third quarter, M/I executives said.
Company leadership noted
"We're going to continue to use rate buydowns as the primary driver for both traffic and sales as long as it keeps working," said CEO Robert Schottenstein on the M/I Homes earnings call. Schottenstein gave current housing market conditions a grade of C-plus.
The M/I CEO also noted the builder had seen no impact of tariffs to date. "I think the jury's out on how things shake out as we move into next year, but thus far, we haven't seen any of that flow through to our results."
NVR Inc.
NVR, the parent company of different building companies, saw both net income and revenue drop off from a year ago, with the bottom line coming in at $342.7 million, down 20.2% from $429.3 million. The latest income numbers grew from $333.7 million in the second quarter.
The year-over-year slowdown came as new orders pulled back 16.1% to 4,735 units from 5,650 over the same three months in 2024. NVR's homebuilder segment revenue came out to $2.56 billion compared to $2.68 billion a year ago.
Fewer orders contributed to decreased loan production within the company's mortgage banking division of $1.54 billion, an approximately 7% decline from a year ago. Pretax mortgage unit income was $32.7 million, 6.4% lower from $34.9 million in third-quarter 2024.
Pultegroup
The Atlanta-based builder reported a 16% decline in net income, which finished at $585.8 million in the quarter compared to $697 million a year ago. The company saw profits drop 3.7% from $608.5 million in the second quarter.
In its homebuilding unit, net new orders dropped off to 6,638 properties, down 5.6% from 7,031 year over year. Segment revenue totaled $4.3 billion compared to $4.48 billion. Pultegroup had a backlog of 9,888 homes valued at $6.2 billion at the end of September.
Its lending unit reported $4.78 billion in production volume with a capture rate of 84.4%. The numbers were down from $5 billion and 86.7% in the third quarter last year. Pretax unit income finished at $44.4 million, a 19.2% year-over-year decrease from $54.9 million.
While CEO Ryan Marshall noted he still sees ongoing challenges in buyer affordability and briefly addressed
"The complexities of the new home construction industry dictate that tackling a problem of this scale requires a coordinated and comprehensive approach that brings together federal, state, and local leaders working in partnership with the new home construction industry," he said.
"We certainly think it is a complicated issue that is largely rooted in local politics and antigrowth mentalities. And itʼs going to be complicated to unravel it," he added.
Taylor Morrison Home Corp.
Net income at the Scottsdale, Arizona-based builder and developer totaled $201.4 million, a 19.8% decrease from $251.1 million in third quarter 2024. On the plus side, income increased from $193.6 million three months earlier.
Profits came on the back of 3,324 homes closed between July and September, but volume was down 2.1% year over year from 3,394. Average sales price on Taylor Morrison's closed homes was $602,000, edging up 0.7% from $598,000 a year ago.
Revenue across homebuilding, land development and lending came out to $2.1 billion, edging down from $2.12 billion 12 months earlier.
While numbers were favorable and leaders saw plenty of signs for optimism, the company acknowledged adjusting some pricing and incentives, particularly for entry-level units. All consumer segments are feeling the effects of current economic uncertainty, though, which weighed on buyer urgency and sentiment.
Taylor Morrison also continues to navigate some obstacles presented by tariff policy.
"We are hearing from our teams that, generally speaking, on the land development release standpoint, there's not going to be a whole lot of specific tariff impacts, but kind of the magnitude of 5% to 6% release on costs on the development side," said Erik Heuser, the company's chief corporate operations officer.
"On the house side, I think we subscribe to the thinking that it'll be a modest increase from a tariff standpoint. There's the cabinet stuff that came out, the vanities, the steel is out there," added Chief Financial Officer Curt VanHyfe.
