NVR profits approach $400 million

Homebuilder NVR, Inc. saw profit growth slow to begin 2024, but results from both construction and mortgage segments point to sustained interest in newly built properties.

The parent company of Ryan Homes, NVHomes and Heartland Homes reported net income of $394.3 million for the three months ending March 31, equivalent to $116.41 per diluted share. The number exceeded the consensus analyst expectation as reported by Yahoo Finance. 

Homebuilders have benefited from the ongoing shortage of existing single-family inventory over the past 12 months, much of it driven by current owners reluctant to sell and take on higher interest rates. 

While net income at Reston, Virginia-based NVR fell 3.8% from fourth-quarter profits of $410 million, the bottom line increased 14.5% from $344.4 million on a year-over-year basis. NVR's positive first-quarter earnings came out on the same day the U.S. government reported new-home sales also jumping up in March at their fastest pace since late summer. 

The new-home sales number showed a slightly different tale from other recently released March data, including for lending, which indicated signs of softness in the market later in the quarter. 

But any March slowing didn't prevent NVR from a $441.7 million quarterly boost in pre-tax income within the homebuilding division. The total dropped 2.8% from $454.3 million in late 2023, but rose 8.9% from $405.8 in the first quarter last year.

While new-home lending may have slowed last month, NVR's mortgage banking unit still saw first-quarter income shoot up $29 million. The figure slipped down 2.4% from $29.7 million in the fourth quarter, but mortgage lending profits increased 3.4% from $28.1 million a year earlier.

Mortgage income came off loan production of $1.38 billion between January and March, compared to $1.5 billion in fourth quarter 2023 and up from  $1.24 billion annually.

Meanwhile, the mean price for new orders placed during the quarter sat at $454,300, rising a hair from $450,900 three months prior. Purchase transactions totaled 5,089 properties, down from 5,332 in the fourth quarter. 

Trends still signal a favorable environment for homebuilding in 2024, as existing housing for sale remains constrained. Market listings, though, are heading upward and outpacing the rate of sales, though, according to the latest housing forecast from Fannie Mae. Rising inventory should eventually moderate price growth overall, its researchers also suggested.  

In its forecast, Fannie Mae revised sales expectations for newly built units downward through the middle of 2024 based on building trends in January and February, but said business would likely pick up in later months.

Mortgage rates remain an ongoing challenge for consumers and lenders, with several housing organizations, including Fannie Mae, signaling they will linger at current levels and dash hopes of previously predicted pullbacks.