April 26 (Bloomberg) -- Pulte Homes Inc., Beazer Homes USA Inc. and Ryland Group Inc. reported quarterly losses as the deteriorating housing market forced them to write down the value of property and abandon land purchases.

Beazer and Ryland withdrew their earnings forecasts for 2007 and Pulte declined to provide an outlook for the rest of the year. Beazer Chief Executive Officer Ian McCarthy said the market was ``extremely challenging'' and he doesn't see any signs of a housing recovery. Homebuilder shares rose after Meritage Homes Corp. said it was seeing signs of stabilization and forecast profit that exceeded analysts' estimates.

``They beat earnings, they gave higher guidance, they talked about their markets they felt were stable,'' James Wilson, an analyst at JMP Securities in San Francisco, said of Meritage, which he rates ``market perform'' and doesn't own shares. ``Almost everything they said was positive.''

Pulte, Beazer and Ryland had a combined $300 million in costs for land and options on parcels they no longer need. Each posted a decline in new home orders. U.S. homebuilders are in their second year of a slump as tightening credit standards and a glut of unsold homes reduces potential buyers and prompts some to wait for prices to fall further before making offers.

``This is a much weaker year than in the peak year of 2005 and the prospects are still pretty cloudy as to 2008,'' Robert Curran, an analyst at Fitch Ratings in New York, said yesterday.

Pulte, the fourth-largest U.S. homebuilder by revenue, reported a first-quarter net loss of $85.7 million, or 33 cents a share, compared with a profit of $262.6 million, or $1.01, a year earlier. Revenue fell 37 percent to $1.87 billion, the Bloomfield Hills, Michigan-based company said yesterday in a statement.

The company forecast break-even results to a loss of 10 cents a share in the second quarter, excluding land charges.

`Challenging' Environment

``Overall, the homebuilding environment remained challenging during the first quarter of 2007, as elevated inventory levels combined with weak consumer confidence for housing continue to place pressure on results,'' Pulte Chief Executive Officer Richard Dugas said in the statement.

New orders tumbled 21 percent in the quarter. The average sales price of a Pulte home fell 1.8 percent to $330,000.

Ryland, the biggest U.S. homebuilder for first-time buyers, said yesterday after the close of regular trading its net loss in the three months ended March 31 was $24.4 million, or 58 cents a share. That compared with a profit of $90 million, or $1.86, a year earlier.

First-quarter revenue fell 34 percent to $706.4 million, the Calabasas, California-based company said in a statement. New orders in the quarter plunged 26 percent to 2,989. The company had forecast earnings in January of $3.75 to $4.25 a share for 2007.

Beazer's Results

``It's like the other builders,'' Robert Stevenson, an analyst at Morgan Stanley, said in an interview. ``It's caught in a cyclical downdraft operationally. The headwinds operationally remain stiff.''

Beazer's net loss for the three months ended March 31 was $43.1 million, or $1.12 a share, compared with a net income of $104.4 million, or $2.35, a year earlier, the Atlanta-based company said today in a statement. Revenue slid 35 percent to $826.3 million.

The company recorded $86.9 million in pretax expenses to walk away from land-option contracts and to write down the value of land.

``We continued to experience extremely challenging operating conditions during our second quarter,'' McCarthy said in the statement. ``At this point in the traditional spring selling season we still have yet to see any meaningful evidence of a sustainable recovery.''

`Signs of Stabilization'

Meritage reported a drop in profit in the first quarter and also said it was seeing signs of a rebound in demand. Scottsdale, Arizona-based Meritage, the 13th largest homebuilder, said its first quarter profit plunged 81 percent to $15.1 million, or 57 cents a share, from $79.7 million, or $2.86, a year ago.

The company forecast earnings of $2 to $2.50 a share for 2007. Six analysts in a Bloomberg survey project earnings of $1.73 a share, excluding items, on average.

``We are encouraged by some early signs of stabilization,'' Steven Hilton, Meritage's chief executive officer, said in a statement. ``We've seen our overall cancellation rate decline, sales pace begin to improve and incentives begin to stabilize in certain markets, resulting in modest impairments during the first quarter this year relative to last year's fourth quarter and some of our peers' recent write-offs.''

Shares of Meritage surged $4.38, or 13 percent, to $36.94 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading.

Muddled Housing Outlook

Ryland shares rose $1.99, or 4.3 percent, to $47.79. The stock is down 27 percent over the past year. Pulte rose 92 cents, or 3.3 percent, to $28.82. The stock is down 26 percent over the past year. Beazer gained $1.69, or 5 percent, to $35.20. The shares fell 43 percent over the past 12 months.

A Standard & Poor's measure of 16 homebuilders rose 4 percent. It's down 22 percent over the past year.

Entry-level buyers may find it harder to obtain a loan because of the subprime mortgage crisis. At least 50 companies have stopped lending, gone into bankruptcy or sought buyers since the start of 2006, according to Bloomberg data. Subprime borrowers generally have limited or poor credit histories.

Home Sales Rise

Housing data released this week did not offer a clear indication of where the market may be headed. New home sales rose 2.6 percent in March as warm weather and special sales offers lured buyers, the Commerce Department said yesterday.

The median price of a new home rose 6.4 percent last month to $254,000 from $238,800 a year earlier, the report showed. The number of homes for sale at the end of the month rose to 545,000 from 544,000 in February.

Existing-home sales tumbled 8.4 percent in March and the median price of a house sold fell 0.3 percent to $217,000 from a year ago, the National Association of Realtors said on April 24.

``We continue to believe that, barring significant further setbacks from the possible subprime fallout, 2007 should mark the bottom the housing market,'' analyst Todd Vencil of BB&T Capital Markets in Richmond, Virginia, wrote in a note to investors yesterday.

To contact the reporter on this story: Brian Louis in Chicago at blouis1@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: April 26, 2007 16:22 EDT