Homes in backlog at December 31, 2012 increased 62% from the prior year, with significant increases in most regions due to increases in net sales orders as compared with the same period of the prior year. A further breakdown of this number shows that the Western region of the USA is home to the largest average closing price, $319,300, up 4% YoY (year over year). In addition to positive price trends, this region is also home to the largest number of closings. Full year YoY closing in the region were up over 60% for DHI, according to their last quarterly release.
From a macroeconomic prospective, YoY, housing permits are up 29% for one-unit structures. In the category of housing starts, the same figure is up 20%. It is important to define these data points too. Permits are privately owned building authorizations, while starts are the number of residential construction projects that have begun. These are also the type of homes that DHI tends to construct.
DHI shares are a near a 52 week high and the analyst community is enjoying the move for the most part. 9 of the 22 analysts that cover the stock have a buy on it, 11 holds, and 1 sell. The 36 day options imply about a 8% up or down range by expiration at a one sigma confidence level
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