Lennar Corp., the second-largest U.S. home builder, reported its sixth straight quarterly loss Tuesday as rising foreclosures added to a glut of properties on the market.
The Miami company's fiscal third-quarter net loss narrowed to $89 million, or 56 cents a share, from $513.9 million, or $3.25 a share, a year earlier.
Lennar was expected to report a net loss of 60 cents a share for the three months ended Aug. 31, according to the average estimate of 12 analysts in a Bloomberg survey.
Its chief executive, Stuart Miller, like other home building executives, is reducing prices and adding other incentives for buyers. The average sale price of homes delivered fell to $270,000 in the third quarter, off 9% from $296,000 the year earlier, and the company sold the most homes in Arizona, Colorado, and Texas. (The median U.S. new-home price was $230,700 in July.)
"The sentiment is still pretty darn bad," Eric Landry, an analyst at Morningstar Inc., said before the results were issued. "The headwinds are still numerous and stiff."
