Published: Feb. 3, 2011
Updated: 3:03 p.m.

O.C. builder gets 14% higher prices

By JEFF COLLINS
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTERStory Highlights

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Irvine-based homebuilder Standard Pacific Homes reported that its customers paid an average of $495,000 per home built and sold in California last year, a 14% gain over the average selling price for a California home in 2009.
The average sales price for a Standard Pacific home companywide was $343,000, up 12% from $306,000.

The announcement came in the company's fourth-quarter earnings release showing that debt reduction pushed the firm into the red for the first time since last winter.

Meanwhile, the firm announced Wednesday that it plans to open 55 new housing developments this year, 35 of them in the first half of the year, thanks to a recent land-buying spree.

Currently, the firm is selling homes in 134 developments in eight states. But the homebuilder has been taking advantage of a strong cash position and lower land prices, acquiring around 5,400 additional lots worth $315 million in the past year.

Highlights of the company's latest financial report include:
•The company reported a net loss of $21.9 million in the final three months of the year, due mainly to $23.8 million in refinance charges related to paying down and restructuring its debt.
•Had the company not had to cover refinancing charges, it would have ended the quarter with a net gain of $4.3 million.
•For 2010 as a whole, Standard Pacific reported a net loss of $11.7 million, again due to the refinancing charges. Minus the refinancing costs, the company would have had net profits of $20.6 million last year, compared to a net loss of $13.8 million in 2009.
•The debt restructuring allowed the company to pay off notes due before September 2016 and to reduce its overall debt to $90 million from $665 million.
•Nonetheless, many indicators were negative due to "weaker homebuyer demand," company officials said. Homebuilding revenues, closed sales and new orders all declined both in the fourth quarter and in 2010 as a whole.

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