Real Estate Sales Are Booming; Estimated to Exceed $160 Billion in 2021 - Seite 3

"We are currently experiencing the strongest housing market I have seen in my 30 years at Toll Brothers and we continue to increase prices in nearly all of our communities as we focus on driving profitability and managing growth. The strong demand began for us in mid-May and has continued through today. In our fourth quarter, net signed contracts of 3,407 homes and $2.74 billion were the highest totals for any quarter in our history, up 68% in homes and 63% in dollars compared to one year ago. In FY 2021's first six weeks ended December 6, demand has remained very strong compared to one year ago, with our non-binding reservation deposits, which are a precursor to contracts, up approximately 48%.

"We attribute the strength in demand to a number of factors, including historically low interest rates, an undersupply of new and resale homes, and a renewed appreciation for the home as a sanctuary. The work-from-home phenomenon is also enabling more buyers to live where they want rather than where their jobs previously required. And since most of our customers have a home to sell, the tight resale market gives them confidence they can sell their home quickly at an appreciated value that can then be re-invested in their new home."

Lennar Corporation (NYSE: LEN) (NYSE: LEN.B), one of the nation's leading homebuilders, recently announced that its Board of Directors has declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.25 per share for both Class A and Class B common stock payable on February 12, 2021 to holders of record at the close of business on January 29, 2021.

It also announced that its Board of Directors authorized the Company to repurchase from time to time up to the lesser of $1 billion in value, or 25,000,000 in shares, of the Company's outstanding Class A or Class B common stock. The repurchase authorization has no expiration date. The purpose of the authorization is to enable the Company to purchase shares from time to time when its officers deem it appropriate for the Company to do so. Under a prior stock repurchase authorization, which was approved by the Board in January 2019 and was replaced by the current one, the Company repurchased 14 million shares of its Class A and Class B common stock for a total of $781 million.