by Calculated Risk on 3/09/2012 09:18:00 PM

From housing economist Tom Lawler:

Hovnanian Enterprises, the struggling New Jersey based builder that was the 7th largest US home builder in 2010, reported that net home sales (excluding joint ventures) in the quarter ended January 31, 2012 totaled 940, up 18.7%, up from the comparable quarter a year ago. Including joint ventures, net home sales totaled 1,079, up 26.9% from a year ago. Hovnanian also reported that net home sales in February (including joint ventures) were up 37.5% from last February pace.

Home closings in the latest quarter (including joint ventures) totaled 1,012, a YOY gain of 13.5%, while Hov’s order backlog on January 31, 2012 (including joint ventures) totaled 1,730, up 28% from last January.

Chairman of the Board Ara Hovnanian said that “the spring selling season is off to a good start...,” which is consistent with other anecdotal reports from home builders.

CR note: I'm hearing similar comments from private sources.

Earlier on Employment:
• February Employment Report: 227,000 Jobs, 8.3% Unemployment Rate
• Employment Summary and Discussion
• All Employment Graphs

Note: I'm frequently asked how the Great Depression would look on the percent job losses graph, here it is: Percent Job Losses: Great Recession and Great Depression