Home-builder sector up slightly as new-home sales slow 03/24 08:39 AM

Home-builder stocks showed gains on Wednesday even as government data showed a continued slowing of new-home sales.
Lennar Corp. (LEN:$17.90,00$0.84,004.92%) led the pack with gains of 4.7% after the home builder's first-quarter loss narrowed to $6.5 million, or 4 cents a share, as revenue fell 3.1% to $574.4 million, beating Wall Street estimates. Lennar (LEN:$17.90,00$0.84,004.92%) , however, reported that new home orders for the quarter rose 18% to 2,577.
Other home builders showed gains on the day. Hovnanian Enterprises Inc. (HOV:$4.875000,$0.205000,4.39%) shares rose 3%. Shares of “BZH’ rose to $4.90 a share , up 2%. Sales of new homes fell for the fourth-straight month according to February data to its lowest rate since the Commerce Department started keeping figures in 1963. Seasonally adjusted, new-homes sales declined 2.2% to an annual pace of 308,000. The number of new homes for sale increased 1.3% to 236,000, or a 9.2 month inventory based on the current sales rate.