Lennar Corp., one of the nation's largest homebuilders, said Thursday it swung to a loss in the first quarter as it absorbed charges to write down asset values and costs, while new home sales and prices sank amid the stumbling real estate market.The Miami-based company reported a loss of $88.2 million, or 56 cents per share, in the three months ended Feb. 29 compared with profit of $68.6 million, or 43 cents per share, in the year ago quarter. This year's results include a 38 cent-per-share charge related to valuation adjustments and write-offs of option deposits and pre-acquisition costs. After those adjustments, Lennar's loss was 18 cents per share.

The adjusted results are better than estimates on Wall Street, where the mean estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Financial was for a loss of $1.07 per share. Some analysts include write-down estimates in their predictions, while others do not.



Sales fell 62 percent to $1.06 billion from $2.79 billion in the year-ago period. The average selling price fell 8 percent.

Deliveries of new homes were down 60 percent to 3,596 homes. New home orders were down 57 percent to 3,045, with a cancellation rate of 26 percent.

The news comes a day after the Commerce Department reported that sales of new homes fell in February for the fourth straight month, pushing activity down to a 13-year low. The median price of a new home sold last month dropped to $244,100, 2.7 percent less than the level of a year ago. The median sales price is the point where half the homes sold for more and half for less.

For Lennar, the average sales price of homes delivered dropped to $278,000, down from $303,000 in the year-ago period, partly due to higher sales incentives offered to homebuyers. The company averaged $48,000 in incentives per home delivered in the first quarter, compared to $45,500 per home delivered in the first quarter of 2007.

President and Chief Executive Stuart Miller said supply continues to outstrip demand in the housing market, which lowers the amount of new home sales and depresses prices. Miller said lower consumer confidence also has "quieted demand" among potential buyers.

Lennar is holding off on buying land and adjusting operations to "to protect cash, preserve value and fortify our balance sheet," Miller said.

"Home inventories have been expanding due to the high number of foreclosures, negotiated 'short sales,' and stretched homeowners looking to sell homes they can no longer afford," Miller said. "While sales are occurring and clearing prices are being reached, the pace of overall housing inventory growth is exceeding absorption at the current time."

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