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PulteGroup Inc., the largest U.S. home builder by market value, reported its net income in the fourth quarter quadrupled from that of a year earlier as the Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-based home builder experienced a 20 percent rise in new orders and a 6 percent increase in average selling price.
Orders rose 27 percent in the fourth quarter. Lennar Corp., the second-biggest builder by market value, reported a 32 percent increase earlier this month for its most recent quarter, while D.R. Horton Inc., the third-largest, said it had a 39 percent jump.
PulteGroup earned $58.7 million in net income in the final three months of 2012, or 15 cents a share, off $1.5 billion in revenues. That was a significant improvement from its $13.8 million in net income off $1.2 billion in revenues during the fourth quarter of 2011.
The company reported earning $206 million in net income in 2012 off $4.8 billion in revenues. In 2011, the company reported a loss of $210 million.
“We now look ahead to 2013 with expectations for a continued rebound in U.S. housing driven by record low interest rates, higher rent versus own costs, rising home prices, and sharply lower overall housing inventory,” Richard Dugas Jr., president and CEO of PulteGroup, said in a statement.
The company closed on 5,154 new home deals nationwide in the fourth quarter, up from 4,303 in the previous fourth quarter. The average selling price of its newly built homes was $287,000, or $16,000 more than a year earlier.
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