Homebuilder PulteGroup ( PHM ) said Tuesday that a chronic housing shortage in the U.S. is giving the company an opportunity to grow its market share.
“After more than a decade of underbuilding, our country has an estimated structural deficit of several million homes,” said Ryan Marshall, CEO of PulteGroup, in a press release. “Our strong financial performance reflects both favorable demand conditions and our balanced operating model, which allows us to more effectively meet the unique needs of first-time, on-the-move and active-adult consumers.”
The comments came as the company reported first-quarter results that beat Wall Street estimates and sent its shares up 4%.
PHM posted earnings of $3.10 per share on revenue of $3.95 billion. Wall Street analysts were expecting EPS of $2.36 on revenue of $3.58 billion.
Homebuilders like Pulte have been able to manage the high interest rate environment by offering incentives to buyers. The average rate for a 30-year fixed loan was 7% last week, According to Freddie Mac.
Marshall said in the company's first-quarter earnings call that home prices will continue to rise due to low inventory.
“Our company's ability to offer targeted incentives, particularly mortgage rate buybacks, is a powerful tool to help close the affordability gap,” he said.
In the first quarter, “Approximately 25% of our homebuyers used our national payment plan. In a world where the consensus is that interest rates will remain high for a long time, our rate incentives will become an even bigger competitive advantage, especially relative to the existing home seller.”
