In a market that has challenged home builders with weak consumer sentiment and affordability concerns, public builders continue to demonstrate resilience in their results. In a week where D.R. Horton reported positive growth in closings and PulteGroup reported net order growth, NVR and Century Communities reported positive results in their fiscal second quarters.
While NVR reported its margin was impacted by consumer sentiment, rising lot costs, and pricing pressure, the company maintained a positive outlook and saw positive growth in orders in the period. Century Communities was able to grow net orders and reported a decline in cancellation rate among buyers. CEO and president Rob Francescon noted the improvement in cancellation rate reflects the strong commitment of buyers once they have made a purchase decision. Additionally, Francescon highlighted Century Communities’ improved cycle time and lower construction costs as tailwinds impacting financial performance in the second quarter.
Quarter By the Numbers
- NVR: The No. 4 company on the 2026 Builder 100 list generated 5,885 new orders in the second quarter, a 9% improvement compared to the same period a year ago. The builder’s average sales price on orders declined 5% to $437,100 while its cancellation rate improved by 200 basis points to 15%. The company delivered 5,058 homes in the period, down 8% on a year over year basis. At quarter’s end, NVR had 10,998 units in backlog representing a value of $4.99 billion. The company recorded a profit of $236.5 million, or $83.96 per share, down 29% and 23%, respectively, on a year-over-year basis.
- Century Communities: The No. 10 company on the Builder 100 list generated 2,615 new contracts in the second quarter, up 2.7% compared to the same period in 2025. The company generated $897.5 million in home sales revenue on 2,506 deliveries. Deliveries declined 3.1% compared to the second quarter of 2025. Century Communities recorded a profit of $36.1 million, or $1.26 per share, compared to $34.9 million, or $1.15 per share, in the same period of 2025.
What They’re Saying
“We delivered strong second quarter results despite continued headwinds from macro challenges and weak consumer sentiment. We continued to invest in our business and ended the quarter with 330 open communities, a company record.” — Dale Francescon, executive chairman, Century Communities
“In the second quarter, we started 2,841 homes and remained focused on managing our inventory levels, ending the quarter with approximately 3 finished specs per community. We ended the quarter with just over 60,000 owned and controlled lots… We have the ability to accelerate [land acquisition] if market conditions improve, given the strength of our balance sheet or to reduce it if market conditions worsen without impacting our near-term growth prospects. We are optimistic about our results in the second quarter. We saw a healthy pickup in our activity accompanied by a decline in incentives and continued ability to control our costs and inventory level.” — Rob Francescon, president and CEO, Century Communities
