Question-and-Answer Session
Operator
(Operator Instructions) The first question comes from the line of Michael Rehaut – JPMorgan.
Michael Rehaut - JPMorgan
My first question focuses around the sales pace. We are all glad to see the improvement sequentially and certainly the return of a seasonal pattern is encouraging. On a year-over-year basis the absorption was down 12% by the numbers. This is in contrast to some of the other builders that have reported so far that have seen a year-over-year increase in absorption. Is it possible, obviously you have your own business and you can’t necessarily fully comment on maybe what the differences are, but to your extent or the extent possible, what do you think the state of the industry is in terms of the improvement in tone and trends and also I guess any comments on perhaps why the absorption pace hasn’t picked up more strongly for Pulte versus some of the other builders out there?
Richard Dugas
I would say the results we are experiencing are very similar to what others are experiencing. When you go back and look at quarter-over-quarter results from a year ago, a lot of things factor in. We may have had a big sales event. Someone else may have had a weak quarter or a strong quarter. So frankly, I think the much more relevant thing right now is are we seeing improved business from what was a horrendous fourth quarter of last year. That is why we are discussing more of the sequential improvement. It seems to be one of stability. I think if we go back on our own results since January or February we have had a very consistent sign up base. Candidly I would tell you we are not displeased with our overall sign up base. Obviously we would like to see more margin. We talked about moving more towards a build to order model and looking for better margins later in the year but frankly the sales pace as you look at it on a year-over-year basis is influenced by a number of factors and relative to what others are posting we are not disappointed with our sales pace. It is more about getting back to profitability.
Michael Rehaut - JPMorgan
A follow-up, you mentioned traffic and orders and can rates were steady throughout the quarter. I was wondering if you could talk about if that also applied to pricing trends. In terms of pricing how do you feel, we have been through a period the last 12-18 months on a national basis down 1-2% sequentially month-to-month? The data has shown that has moderated a bit. Have you seen that in any of your markets? On a regional basis if you could talk about perhaps where pricing you have observed is more stabilized over the last few months? By contrast where it is still slipping month-to-month?
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