(Reuters) – U.S. homebuilder D.R. Horton Inc posted a 34.4% fall in quarterly profit on Thursday, as high prices and expensive mortgages made housing unaffordable for many Americans.
The Federal Reserve’s aggressive interest rate hikes have pushed the housing market into a recession, with residential investment contracting for seven straight quarters, the longest such streak since the collapse of the housing bubble triggered by the 2007-2009 Great Recession.
Interest rates last year on the most popular type of U.S. home loan topped 7%, the highest since 2001. While rates had retreated to an average of 6.27% last week, they still remain high, according to data from mortgage finance agency Freddie Mac.
D.R. Horton’s revenue fell to $7.97 billion from $7.99 billion.
Net income attributable to the company for the second quarter fell to $942.2 million, or $2.73 per dilutedshare, from $1.44 billion, or $4.03 per share, a year earlier.
(Reporting by Kannaki Deka in Bengaluru; Editing by Vinay Dwivedi)
