Meritage Homes Corporation, Scottsdale (NYSE:MTH) on Tuesday reported its preliminary home orders, closings and backlog for the third quarter ended September 30, 2017.
Home closings increased approximately 9% to 1,969 in the third quarter of 2017 from 1,800 in the third quarter of 2016, the company said. Net orders increased approximately 8% to 1,874 in the third quarter from 1,737 in the same period of 2016.
Ending backlog increased to 3,333 units at the end of third quarter of 2017, compared to 3,251 at September 30, 2016.
“Considering that two of our largest divisions were severely impacted by hurricanes in the third quarter, we are pleased to have delivered solid year-over-year growth, which could have been even greater without the storms,” said Steven J. Hilton, chairman and CEO for Meritage Homes. “We lost two weeks of production and sales in Houston, which delayed an estimated 30-35 closings and as many as 40 sales during the quarter, though our operations in Houston have been fully up and running for most of September.
“Florida is a different story, where we experienced severe disruptions due to extensive damage to the electrical grid,” he continued. “Sales and production were interrupted for about three weeks, which pushed approximately 20 closings and 50 sales out of the third quarter. We have resumed operations in all of our communities in Florida and are working through many issues, though we’re experiencing general delays in the after-effects of the storms.”
The company expects to report its full third quarter results on October 27.
