PulteGroup quarterly profit falls as home affordability pressure persists

PulteGroup

22/07/2026 12:14

July 22 (Reuters) - PulteGroup PHM.N on Wednesday posted a fall in second-quarter profit as the homebuilder's incentives for buyers facing challenges with high interest rates and rising costs weighed on the company's margins.
U.S. homebuilders have been navigating rising costs due to persistent inflation, as well as weakening consumer sentiment.
"Overall, market conditions remain highly competitive as macroeconomic uncertainty, volatile interest rates and strained affordability weigh on housing demand," said CEO Ryan R. Marshall.
The benchmark 30-year mortgage rate has hovered around 6.6% in recent months, far above the 4.3% average of the previous decade, and is unlikely to fall materially anytime soon.
To stimulate demand, builders have been employing sales incentives like mortgage rate buydowns, which in turn hurts their margins.
Gross profit margin in the quarter decreased to 25%, compared with 27% a year ago.
PulteGroup earned $2.48 per share in the quarter ended June 30, compared with $3.03 per share a year ago.
Second-quarter home sale revenues decreased 11% from the prior year, reflecting an 8% decrease in completed home sales in combination with a 3% decrease in average sales price.
However, new orders for the quarter increased 6%, helped by a larger number of open communities, which boosted sales across all buyer groups.
The company's total quarterly revenue fell 9.6% from a year ago to $3.98 billion, but came above analysts' estimate of $3.93 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.

 (Reporting by Aatreyee Dasgupta in Bengaluru)
 ((Aatreyee.Dasgupta@thomsonreuters.com;))