Lennar says home buying under pressure from high interest rates

[June 21, 2022]  (Reuters) - Homebuilder Lennar Corp said on Tuesday surging interest rates and home prices are driving consumers in many markets to reconsider buying homes.

 Signage is seen at The Collection at Morristown, a housing development by Lennar Corporation, in Morristown, New Jersey, U.S., November 13, 2021. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo

The housing market has begun to show signs of cooling with U.S. home sales dropping to the lowest level in nearly two years in March as rising mortgage rates and inflation cut into demand.

"The Fed's stated determination to curtail inflation through interest rate increases and quantitative tightening have begun to have the desired effect of slowing sales in some markets and stalling price increases across the country," said Lennar Executive Chairman Stuart Miller.

Still, the higher home prices drove up net income attributable to the U.S. homebuilder to $1.32 billion, or $4.49 per share, in the second quarter ended May 31, from $831.4 million, or $2.65 per share, a year earlier.

(Reporting by Kannaki Deka and Nathan Gomes in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)

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