Toll Brothers Increases Land Purchases: Bloomberg Businessweek

NEW YORK — Toll Brothers Inc. is increasing its land purchases, Bloomberg Businessweek reported May 26, 2010.

The Horsham, PA, company, largest luxury homebuilder in the US, said it spent $143 million acquiring land in the fiscal second quarter, ending the period with 33,600 lots either owned or under option. The number of lots was up 6% from the end of the preceding quarter. Four years ago, prior to the housing slump, the company had about 91,000 lots, the report said.

Chairman Robert Toll, commenting on the company’s earnings statement, said, “It appears our business has finally emerged from the tunnel and into a bit of daylight. The past few months’ activity has been driven by an increase in confidence among our buyers in their job security, their ability to sell their existing homes, and general trends in home prices.” Toll Brothers’ loss in the second quarter, ended April 30, narrowed to $40.4 million from $83.2 million a year earlier.

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