Homebuilder’s earnings signal slowdown in Florida

Another sign of the slowing housing market in Florida came from one of the state’s biggest homebuilders today.

WCI this morning announced that combined home-building orders for single-family and condo tower residences were down almost 50 percent for the first two months of the second quarter from the same period last year. The company attributed the drop to significantly lower demand and a "wait-and-see" attitude among potential homebuyers customers in the Florida market.

Traditional homebuilding orders were down 42 percent vs. year-ago levels while tower homebuilding orders dropped 84 percent.

The company also revised its expectations for full-year orders lower by at least 20 percent from 2005 levels. Downward seemed to be the trend for the day as the company revised the number of towers it is likely to release this year even lower, from 11 to 13 to only three to five, and also lowered the earnings expectations for the second quarter below the lower end of the May 9th guidance of 75 to 85 cents a share.

The company also announced it repurchased 2 million shares at an average price of $21.79 during the second quarter. Year-to-date, WCI has repurchased three million shares and has two million shares remaining on its current board authorization.

Share of WCI were down 34 cents to $19.81 in trading this morning.