Investors | News Releases | Beazer Homes USA, Inc. Reports Preliminary Home Orders, Closings and Backlog for the Quarter and Nine Months Ended June 30, 2004

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Beazer Homes USA, Inc. Reports Preliminary Home Orders, Closings and Backlog for the Quarter and Nine Months Ended June 30, 2004

July 7, 2004 at 4:31 PM EDT
* Q3 New Home Orders of 4,869, up 3% year-over-year * Q3 Closings of 4,061, up 12% year-over-year * All-time Record Backlog at 6/30/04: 9,278 homes (up 8%), $2.3 billion sales value (up 30%)

ATLANTA, Jul 7, 2004 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- Beazer Homes USA, Inc. (NYSE: BZH) ( http://www.beazer.com ) today released preliminary unit net orders, closings and backlog for the quarter and nine months ended June 30, 2004.


                                          New Orders (Units)
                             For the Quarter          For the Nine Months
                              Ended June 30,             Ended June 30,
                                          %                           %
                           2004   2003   Change      2004     2003   Change
    Southeast             1,657  1,673   -1.0%      4,336    4,316    0.5%
    West                  1,823  1,474   23.7%      5,162    3,690   39.9%
    Central                 297    332  -10.5%        833      860   -3.1%
    Mid-Atlantic            427    434   -1.6%      1,146    1,382  -17.1%
    Midwest                 665    821  -19.0%      1,728    2,206  -21.7%
    Total                 4,869  4,734    2.9%     13,205   12,454    6.0%


                                           Closings (Units)
                             For the Quarter          For the Nine Months
                              Ended June 30,             Ended June 30,
                                          %                        %
                           2004   2003   Change      2004     2003   Change
    Southeast             1,340  1,204   11.3%      3,794    3,390   11.9%
    West                  1,562  1,174   33.0%      4,180    3,309   26.3%
    Central                 216    296  -27.0%        664      834  -20.4%
    Mid-Atlantic            409    261   56.7%      1,094      789   38.7%
    Midwest                 534    681  -21.6%      1,621    2,073  -21.8%
    Total                 4,061  3,616   12.3%     11,353   10,395    9.2%


                                                    Backlog (Units)
                                                     As of June 30,
                                                                        %
                                               2004        2003       Change
    Southeast                                  2,863       2,793         2.5%
    West                                       3,269       2,214        47.7%
    Central                                      565         533         6.0%
    Mid-Atlantic                               1,169       1,293        -9.6%
    Midwest                                    1,412       1,745       -19.1%
    Total                                      9,278       8,578         8.2%

Preliminary backlog sales value as of June 30, 2004 totals $2.32 billion, up 30% from the backlog sales value of $1.78 billion as of June 30, 2003.

The increase in new home orders for the quarter resulted from strong order growth in the Company's West region, notably California, Arizona, Nevada, and Colorado, and in certain Southeast markets, notably Florida, Georgia and Tennessee. This was partially offset mainly by lower orders in the Midwest and in parts of the Carolinas. The increase in new orders from those markets with higher average sales prices resulted in all-time record backlog in terms of both units and sales value.

Closings of 4,061 homes represents a third quarter record and resulted from strong closings in both the Company's West and Mid-Atlantic regions, with year-over-year increases of 33% and 57%, respectively. The increase in closings in the Southeast resulted from strong closings in Florida, Georgia and Tennessee, partially offset by declines in parts of the Carolinas.

Beginning in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2004, the Company will announce its quarterly new orders, closings and backlog units at the time of its quarterly earnings release, as the Company believes this data is more meaningful within the context of comprehensive quarterly financial results.

Beazer Homes USA, Inc., based in Atlanta, Georgia, is one of the country's ten largest single-family homebuilders with operations in Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia. Beazer Homes also provides mortgage origination and title services to its homebuyers.

SOURCE Beazer Homes USA, Inc.

Leslie H. Kratcoski, Director, Investor Relations of Beazer
Homes USA, Inc., +1-770-829-3700, or lkratcos@beazer.com
http://www.beazer.com