M/I Homes Inc (MHO) 2023 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the M/I Homes Inc. third-quarter earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) This call is being recorded on Wednesday, October 25, 2023.

早安，女士們先生們，歡迎參加 M/I Homes Inc. 第三季財報電話會議。 （操作員說明）此通話錄音時間為 2023 年 10 月 25 日星期三。

And now, I'd like to turn the conference over to Phil Creek. Please go ahead.

現在，我想把會議交給 Phil Creek。請繼續。

Thanks. Thanks for joining us. Joining me on the call today is Bob Schottenstein, our CEO and President; and Derek Klutch, President of our mortgage company. First, to address Regulation Fair Disclosure, we encourage you to ask any questions regarding issues that you consider material during this call because we are prohibited from discussing significant non-public items with you directly.

謝謝。感謝您加入我們。今天和我一起參加電話會議的是我們的執行長兼總裁 Bob Schottenstein；還有德里克‧克拉奇 (Derek Klutch)，我們的抵押貸款公司總裁。首先，為了解決公平揭露法規問題，我們鼓勵您在本次電話會議中提出有關您認為重要的問題的任何問題，因為我們被禁止直接與您討論重要的非公開事項。

And as to forward-looking statements, I want to remind everyone that the cautionary language about forward-looking statements contained in today's press release also applies to any comments made during this call. Also, be advised that the company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements made during this call.

至於前瞻性陳述，我想提醒大家，今天新聞稿中包含的有關前瞻性陳述的警告性語言也適用於本次電話會議期間發表的任何評論。另請注意，該公司不承擔更新本次電話會議期間所做的任何前瞻性陳述的義務。

I now turn the call over to Bob.

我現在將電話轉給鮑伯。

Thanks, Phil. Good morning and thank you for joining our call to review M/I Homes' third-quarter results. We had an outstanding quarter, one of the best in company history, highlighted by record revenue, record income, a 50% increase in new contracts, and very strong margins and returns. In addition, we ended the quarter with record shareholders' equity and a balance sheet that's as strong as at any time in our 47-year history.

謝謝，菲爾。早安，感謝您參加我們的電話會議，審查 M/I Homes 第三季業績。我們度過了一個出色的季度，是公司歷史上最好的季度之一，突出表現在創紀錄的收入、創紀錄的收入、新合約成長 50% 以及非常強勁的利潤和回報。此外，在本季結束時，我們的股東權益創歷史新高，資產負債表也達到了我們 47 年歷史上最強勁的水平。

Our third-quarter results build upon the very strong results we previously reported in the first and second quarters of this year. We are particularly pleased to report these results, notwithstanding an unprecedented rapid rise in interest rates, continued concerns from all kinds of macroeconomic factors, as well as heightened conflict in the Middle East and across the globe.

我們的第三季業績建立在我們先前報告的今年第一和第二季的強勁業績基礎上。儘管利率史無前例地快速上升，各種宏觀經濟因素持續令人擔憂，而且中東和全球各地的衝突加劇，但我們還是特別高興地報告這些結果。

We increased our revenues during the quarter by 3% to a record $1 billion. Deliveries during the quarter also increased by 3%. Pre-tax income improved by 7% to a record $178 million. Gross margins for the quarter improved to 27%. That's 10 basis points better than last year and 140 basis points better than our second quarter. We also benefited from the continued improvement in our construction cycle time, 50 days better than a year ago, and we are focused on further improving that in future quarters.

本季我們的營收成長了 3%，達到創紀錄的 10 億美元。該季度的交付量也成長了 3%。稅前收入成長 7%，達到創紀錄的 1.78 億美元。該季度毛利率提高至 27%。這比去年好 10 個基點，比第二季好 140 個基點。我們也受惠於施工週期時間的持續改善，比一年前縮短了 50 天，我們致力於在未來幾季進一步改善這種情況。

Pre-tax income equaled 17% of revenue and our return on equity equaled 23%. As previously noted, new contracts improved by 50% from a year ago, reflecting the strength of our product offerings, our intense focus and success in designing more affordable product, quality of our communities, and our ability to selectively use below-market financing incentives to drive both traffic and sales.

稅前收入相當於收入的 17%，股本回報率為 23%。如前所述，新合約較一年前增加了50%，反映了我們產品供應的實力、我們在設計更實惠的產品方面的強烈關注和成功、我們社區的品質以及我們有選擇地使用低於市場融資激勵措施的能力以推動流量和銷售。

Over 50% of our buyers are first-time buyers, and our Smart Series, which is our most affordable line of homes, continues to be a leading contributor to our strong sales performance. Our Smart Series is particularly attractive to the millennial buyer, and our Smart Series sales comprised roughly 55% of total company sales.

我們超過 50% 的買家是首次買家，而我們的智慧系列是我們最實惠的住宅系列，它仍然是我們強勁銷售業績的主要貢獻者。我們的智慧系列對千禧世代買家特別有吸引力，我們的智慧系列銷售額約占公司總銷售額的 55%。

During the past several weeks, we have seen additional increases in mortgage rates with a 30-year rate now hovering at around 8%. This recent rise has somewhat impacted demand. Clearly, we are seeing a bit more consistency from market to market and a slight slowdown in activity. As we have in the past, we will respond accordingly by focusing on below-market mortgage rates to incent sales, where we believe that to be necessary.

在過去的幾周里，我們看到抵押貸款利率進一步上升，30 年期抵押貸款利率目前徘徊在 8% 左右。最近的上漲在一定程度上影響了需求。顯然，我們看到市場之間的一致性有所提高，而且活動略有放緩。正如我們過去所做的那樣，我們將透過關注低於市場的抵押貸款利率來刺激銷售來做出相應的反應，我們認為這是必要的。

We ended the quarter with record shareholders' equity of $2.4 billion, 25% better than a year ago. In addition, we have zero borrowings under our $650 million line of credit and a quarter ending cash balance of $736 million. And our debt-to-capital ratio of 22% positions us with one of the lowest leverage levels in our industry. As noted earlier, our balance sheet is as strong as it's ever been.

本季末，我們的股東權益達到創紀錄的 24 億美元，比去年同期成長 25%。此外，我們 6.5 億美元的信貸額度下的借款為零，季末現金餘額為 7.36 億美元。我們的債務與資本比率為 22%，這使我們成為業內槓桿最低的企業之一。如前所述，我們的資產負債表一如既往地強勁。

Now I will provide a few additional comments on our various markets. Our division income contributions in the third quarter were led by Dallas, Orlando, Tampa, Raleigh, Austin, and Columbus. New contracts for the third quarter in the northern region increased by 90%, while new contracts in our southern region increased by 29%.

現在我將對我們的各個市場提供一些補充評論。我們第三季的部門收入貢獻由達拉斯、奧蘭多、坦帕、羅利、奧斯汀和哥倫布領先。三季北方地區新簽合約成長90%，南部地區新簽約成長29%。

Deliveries in the southern region increased 15% from last year, while deliveries in our northern region decreased by 13%. 65% of all deliveries come out of our southern region; the balance of 35%, the northern region.

南方地區的交付量比去年增加了15%，而北方地區的交付量則下降了13%。 65% 的交付量來自我們的南部地區；其餘35%為北部地區。

Our owned and controlled lot position in the southern region decreased by 4% compared to a year ago and in the northern region increased by 1% compared to a year ago. 35% of our owned and controlled lots are in our northern region, while 65% of our owned and controlled lots are in our southern region. We have an excellent land position. Company wide, we own approximately 23,000 lots, which is roughly a three-year supply.

我們在南部地區的自有及控股地塊持股量較去年同期減少4%，在北部地區的持倉量較去年同期增加1%。我們擁有和控制的地塊的35%位於北部地區，而我們擁有和控制的地塊的65%位於南部地區。我們擁有優越的土地位置。在整個公司範圍內，我們擁有大約 23,000 塊土地，大約可供三年使用。

Before I conclude, let me just state again that we are in the best financial condition in our history. We remain on track and are very excited to open the number of new communities yet this year, thus increasing our community count by approximately 15% from last year. We feel very good about our business and are well positioned to have another year of strong results in 2023.

在結束之前，讓我再次聲明，我們正處於歷史上最好的財務狀況。我們仍處於正軌，並且非常高興今年能夠開設更多新社區，從而使我們的社區數量比去年增加了約 15%。我們對我們的業務感覺非常好，並準備好在 2023 年再創強勁業績。

With that, I'll turn it over to Phil.

有了這個，我會把它交給菲爾。

Thanks, Bob. Our new contracts were up 62% in July, up 14% in August, and up 85% in September. And our cancellation rate for the third quarter was 10%. 55% of our third-quarter sales were first-time buyers and 52% were inventory homes. Our community count was 204 at the end of the third quarter compared to 178 a year ago. The breakdown by region is 101 in the northern region and 103 in the southern region.

謝謝，鮑伯。我們的新合約在 7 月上漲了 62%，8 月上漲了 14%，9 月上漲了 85%。我們第三季的取消率為 10%。我們第三季銷售額的 55% 是首次購屋者，52% 是庫存房屋。截至第三季末，我們的社區數量為 204 個，而去年同期為 178 個。按地區劃分，北部地區101個，南部地區103個。

During the quarter, we opened 22 new communities while closing 13. Currently estimate ending 2023 with about 225 communities, a 15% increase from year-end 2022; delivered 2,096 homes in the third quarter, delivering 60% of our backlog. And as of September 30, we had 4,600 homes in the field versus 5,800 homes in the field a year ago.

本季度，我們開設了 22 個新社區，關閉了 13 個。目前預計到 2023 年年底，社區數量約為 225 個，比 2022 年底增加 15%；第三季交付了 2,096 套房屋，占我們積壓訂單的 60%。截至 9 月 30 日，我們有 4,600 個房屋在建，而一年前有 5,800 個房屋正在建造中。

Our average closing price for the quarter was $481,000, a 1% decrease when compared to last year's record third-quarter average closing price of $487,000. Backlog average sale price is $510,000, down from $533,000 a year ago.

我們本季的平均收盤價為 481,000 美元，與去年創紀錄的第三季平均收盤價 487,000 美元相比下降了 1%。積壓訂單平均售價為 51 萬美元，低於一年前的 53.3 萬美元。

Our third-quarter gross margin was 26.9%, up 10 basis points year over year and up 140 basis points from our second quarter. Our construction costs were flat in the third quarter, and we benefited from improved building cycle times.

第三季毛利率為 26.9%，較去年同期成長 10 個基點，較第二季成長 140 個基點。我們的建築成本在第三季持平，我們受益於建築週期時間的縮短。

Our third-quarter SG&A expenses were 10.5% of revenue compared to 10.3% a year ago. Our third-quarter expenses increased 5% versus a year ago, due primarily to higher third-party broker costs and expenses related to our higher community count. Interest income net of interest expense for the quarter was $5.8 million. Our interest incurred was $9.4 million.

我們第三季的 SG&A 費用佔營收的 10.5%，去年同期為 10.3%。我們第三季的費用比一年前增加了 5%，這主要是由於第三方經紀商成本增加以及與社區數量增加相關的費用增加。該季度扣除利息支出後的利息收入為 580 萬美元。我們產生的利息為 940 萬美元。

We are pleased with our returns for the quarter. Our pre-tax income was 17% and our return on equity was 23%. During the quarter, we generated $185 million of EBITDA compared to $179 million in last year's third quarter. Our effective tax rate was 22% for the third quarter compared to 21% in last year's third quarter.

我們對本季的回報感到滿意。我們的稅前收入為 17%，股本回報率為 23%。本季度，我們實現了 1.85 億美元的 EBITDA，而去年第三季為 1.79 億美元。我們第三季的有效稅率為 22%，而去年第三季為 21%。

Our earnings per diluted share for the quarter increased to a record $4.82 per share from $4.67 per share last year, up 3%. Our book value per share is now $87 a $16 per share increase from a year ago. Now Derek will address our mortgage company results.

本季稀釋後每股收益從去年的每股 4.67 美元增至創紀錄的每股 4.82 美元，成長 3%。我們的每股帳面價值現在為 87 美元，比一年前增加了 16 美元。現在德里克將討論我們的抵押貸款公司的業績。

Thanks, Phil. Our mortgage and title operations achieved pre-tax income of $9.9 million, a 25% increase from $7.9 million in 2022's third quarter. Revenue increased 17% from last year to $23.6 million due to higher margins on loans sold, a higher average loan amount, and an increase in loans originated.

謝謝，菲爾。我們的抵押貸款和產權業務實現稅前收入 990 萬美元，比 2022 年第三季的 790 萬美元成長 25%。由於銷售貸款利潤率提高、平均貸款金額增加以及發放貸款增加，營收較去年增長 17% 至 2,360 萬美元。

The average loan to value on our first mortgages for the third quarter was 82%, which is the same as last year. 72% of the loans closed in the quarter were conventional and 28% FHA or VA compared to 79% and 21%, respectively, for 2022's third quarter.

第三季第一筆抵押貸款的平均貸款價值率為 82%，與去年持平。本季完成的貸款中有 72% 是傳統貸款，28% 是 FHA 或 VA，而 2022 年第三季分別為 79% 和 21%。

Our average mortgage amount increased to $394,000 in 2023's third quarter compared to $385,000 last year. Loans originated increased to 1,469 loans, which was up 16% from last year, while the volume of loans sold increased by 13%. Our borrower profile remains solid with an average downpayment of almost 18% and an average credit score of 748 compared to 745 in 2022's third quarter.

2023 年第三季度，我們的平均抵押貸款金額從去年的 385,000 美元增加到 394,000 美元。發放的貸款增加至 1,469 筆，較去年增加 16%，而銷售的貸款量則增加 13%。我們的借款人狀況依然穩健，平均首付近 18%，平均信用評分為 748，而 2022 年第三季為 745。

Finally, our mortgage operation captured 86% of our business in the third quarter, which was up from 76% last year. Now I'll turn the call back over to Phil.

最後，我們的抵押貸款業務在第三季佔據了我們業務的 86%，高於去年的 76%。現在我將把電話轉回給菲爾。

Thanks, Derek. For the balance sheet, we ended the third quarter with a cash balance of $736 million and no borrowings under our unsecured revolving credit facility. We have one of the lowest debt levels of the public homebuilders and are well positioned with our maturities. Our bank line matures in late 2026, and our public debt matures in 2028 and 2030, and the interest rate is below 5%.

謝謝，德里克。就資產負債表而言，第三季末我們的現金餘額為 7.36 億美元，無擔保循環信貸額度下沒有借款。我們是公共住宅建築商中債務水平最低的企業之一，我們的成熟度處於有利位置。我們的銀行額度在2026年底到期，我們的公共債務在2028年和2030年到期，利率低於5%。

Our unsold land investment at 9/30/23 is $1.3 billion compared to $1.2 billion a year ago. And at 9/30, we had $718 million of raw land and land under development and $608 million of finished unsold lots.

截至 2023 年 9 月 30 日，我們的未售出土地投資為 13 億美元，而一年前為 12 億美元。截至 9 月 30 日，我們擁有價值 7.18 億美元的未開發土地和正在開發的土地，以及價值 6.08 億美元的已完工未售土地。

In the third quarter, we spent $106 million on land purchases and $151 million on land development for a total of $257 million. And year to date, our land spend totaled $600 million. In 9/30, we own 23,000 lots and controlled 45,000 lots. At the end of the quarter, we had 414 completed inventory homes and 2,021 total inventory homes.

第三季度，我們在土地購買上花費了 1.06 億美元，在土地開發上花費了 1.51 億美元，總計 2.57 億美元。今年迄今為止，我們的土地支出總計 6 億美元。 9/30，我們擁有 23,000 手並控制 45,000 手。截至本季末，我們擁有 414 套已竣工庫存房屋和 2,021 套庫存房屋。

And of the total inventory, 914 are in the northern region and 1,107 are in the southern region. And at 9/30/22, we had 200 completed inventory homes and 1,855 total inventory homes. We spent $25 million in the third quarter repurchasing our stock and have $53 million remaining under our current Board authorization.

其中，北部地區庫存量為914輛，南部地區庫存量為1,107輛。截至 22 年 9 月 30 日，我們擁有 200 套已竣工庫存房屋和 1,855 套庫存房屋。我們在第三季花了 2,500 萬美元回購股票，目前董事會授權還剩 5,300 萬美元。

This completes our presentation. We'll now open the call for any questions or comments.

我們的演示到此結束。我們現在將打開電話詢問任何問題或意見。

(Operator Instructions) Jesse Lederman, Zelman & Associates.

（操作員說明）Jesse Lederman，Zelman & Associates。

Hi. Congrats on the strong quarter and thanks for taking my questions.

你好。恭喜本季的強勁表現，並感謝您回答我的問題。

Thanks, Jesse.

謝謝，傑西。

Can you just walk us through the sequential improvement to gross margin? I remember last quarter you noted that your backlog gross margin was relatively flat compared to what you were delivering. And you noted your construction costs were about flat. So can you just walk us through what drove the sequential increase to margin?

您能否向我們介紹毛利率的持續改善？我記得上個季度您指出，與您交付的產品相比，您的積壓訂單毛利率相對持平。您指出您的建築成本基本上持平。那麼您能否向我們介紹一下是什麼推動了利潤率的連續成長？

I think it's a number of things. Clearly, we've had some benefit from the flattening of hard costs, the items that you mentioned. But I think it's -- as much as anything, the continued increase in the mix of more affordable product, which we call our Smart Series, which typically carries higher margins than the other -- the more move-up product that we sell -- we have really focused.

我認為有很多事情。顯然，我們從你提到的硬成本的壓平中獲得了一些好處。但我認為，最重要的是，更實惠的產品組合不斷增加，我們稱之為智慧系列，它通常比其他產品具有更高的利潤率——我們銷售的升級產品——我們真的很專注。

It began several years ago. I'm glad we did. Sometimes, you focus on things that don't work out as well as others, but several years ago, we really began to focus on designing even more affordable product that we could sell under our Smart Series umbrella.

事情始於幾年前。我很高興我們做到了。有時，您會專注於那些效果不佳的事情，但幾年前，我們真正開始專注於設計更實惠的產品，我們可以在智慧系列的保護下銷售這些產品。

Some of it's attached. The number of attached communities that we currently have in the market right now is roughly 50% more than it was a year ago. A year ago, we had about 20 communities across our various markets selling attached product. Today, it's close to 30.

有一些是附上的。我們目前市場上的附屬社區數量比一年前增加了約 50%。一年前，我們各個市場上大約有 20 個社群在銷售附加產品。今天已經接近30了。

In addition, more narrow single-family -- this product offering has been very successful for us and is selling not only at good pace, but at better margins, lower cycle time. And you put all this into the mix.

此外，更窄的單戶住宅——這種產品對我們來說非常成功，不僅銷售速度快，而且利潤率更高，週期時間更短。你把所有這些都混合在一起。

And one other factor, we've opened up a number of new communities this year. Our new communities are quite candidly performing even better than we had -- not all, but many, even better than we anticipated. So it's not one thing. It's many things.

還有一個因素是，我們今年開設了許多新社區。坦白說，我們的新社區的表現甚至比我們以前的表現還要好——不是全部，但很多，甚至比我們預期的還要好。所以這不是一回事。有很多事情。

We, at the beginning of the year, did not believe our margins would be as strong as they are mainly because at the beginning of the year, business conditions were much more challenging in terms of demand than they have been thus far this year. But we're very pleased with our margins. It's possible there could be a little bit more pressure on them going forward for the reasons that I mentioned with doing more to incent below-market financing.

今年年初，我們並不相信我們的利潤率會如此強勁，主要是因為今年年初，就需求而言，業務狀況比今年迄今為止更具挑戰性。但我們對我們的利潤率非常滿意。由於我提到的採取更多措施激勵低於市場融資的原因，他們未來可能會面臨更大的壓力。

But look, we're going to do what we need to. We're really proud of our results. We want to continue to maintain our momentum. We think the underlying demographics in our industry, as you pointed out, is -- much as anyone has, frankly -- are very strong with household formations, millennial homeownership rates increasing, incredibly low levels of inventory of existing homes.

但是看，我們將做我們需要做的事情。我們對我們的成果感到非常自豪。我們希望繼續保持我們的勢頭。正如您所指出的，我們認為我們行業的潛在人口統計數據——坦率地說，就像任何人一樣——家庭結構非常強勁，千禧一代住房擁有率不斷上升，現有房屋庫存水平極低。

We know things are by no means perfect. We know there's still inflation. We know rates are in an unsteady state. But we're bullish on the homebuilding industry and we're bullish on M/I Homes.

我們知道事情絕不是完美的。我們知道通貨膨脹仍然存在。我們知道利率處於不穩定狀態。但我們看好住宅建築業，也看好 M/I Homes。

And Jesse, [just for you], as Bob mentioned, we have opened 56 new stores this year, and we've been very pleased with the way they have performed.

傑西，[只為你]，正如鮑勃提到的，我們今年開設了 56 家新店，我們對他們的表現非常滿意。

That's helpful. Thanks. Could you give maybe -- you noted that your orders were up 85% in September, which -- I look back to your comments from last year, and you were down 35% a year ago, so a lot of that's comp driven also.

這很有幫助。謝謝。您能否給出也許- 您注意到您的訂單在9 月份增長了85%，這- 我回顧一下您去年的評論，一年前您的訂單下降了35%，所以其中很多也是由補償驅動的。

But maybe if you could talk about demand trends in September and maybe if you could comment on October as well, that would be helpful, along with maybe some pricing action that you may need to take to keep sales strong with rates continuing throughout.

但也許如果您可以談論9 月份的需求趨勢，也許您也可以對10 月份的需求趨勢發表評論，這將會有所幫助，並且您可能需要採取一些定價行動來保持強勁的銷售，並且整個價格持續上漲。

Yes. First of all, the last six months of last year was rough, as you recall. I think throughout the better part of the last six months -- well, throughout the last six months last year, I think we averaged maybe 380 or 390 sales a month, which is not good.

是的。首先，正如你所記得的那樣，去年的最後六個月很艱難。我認為在過去 6 個月的大部分時間裡——好吧，在去年的最後 6 個月裡，我認為我們每個月的平均銷量可能是 380 或 390，這並不好。

So going into this year, we knew at some point we're going to have some pretty low comps, if you will. Interestingly, our sales since January and through September have averaged in the high sixes, low sevens, 100 a month. It wasn't that September was such a blow-away month. It's just we had a particularly low comp from a year ago.

所以進入今年，我們知道在某個時候我們將會有一些相當低的補償，如果你願意的話。有趣的是，自 1 月到 9 月，我們的平均銷售量為最高 6 份、最低 7 份，每月 100 份。九月並不是一個令人興奮的月份。只是我們的薪水比一年前特別低。

Sales in -- throughout the quarter were pretty steady month to month to month, although September was probably a little better. In some ways, it's aided by new community openings. I think it just slowed a little bit in October, as I mentioned. It's a little bit market to market. Some markets, the demand is a little stronger than others. But clearly, there's inconsistencies, choppiness, whatever words you want to use.

整個季度的銷售額逐月相當穩定，儘管 9 月可能會好一些。在某些方面，新的社區開放對此有所幫助。正如我所提到的，我認為十月份的成長速度略有放緩。這有點市場化。有些市場的需求比其他市場稍強。但顯然，無論你想用什麼詞，都存在不一致、不連貫的情況。

We've been essentially using below-market mortgage rates to incent sales for quite some time. When the par rate was 7.5%, we knew we had to get it below that. Now that the par rate is hovering around 8%, we know that to get sales, we've got to continue to incent. We may have to do a little bit more. We're going to continue to watch.

相當長一段時間以來，我們基本上一直在使用低於市場的抵押貸款利率來刺激銷售。當票面利率為 7.5% 時，我們知道必須將其降至低於該水準。現在票面利率徘徊在 8% 左右，我們知道要獲得銷售，我們必須繼續激勵。我們可能還需要做更多的事情。我們將繼續關注。

We are also entering into a normally seasonally slow time as we get here into November. We don't want to overreact, but we're going to do what's necessary. There could be a little bit of pressure on margins. I don't want to spook people, but that's just the reality. I think that our results have stood tall for the last year-plus, and I suspect that they will continue to for the next several quarters and beyond.

隨著進入十一月，我們也進入了通常的季節性淡季。我們不想反應過度，但我們會做必要的事。利潤率可能會面臨一些壓力。我不想嚇到別人，但這就是現實。我認為我們的業績在過去一年多的時間裡一直保持著較高的水平，我懷疑在接下來的幾個季度及以後的時間裡，這種情況還將繼續下去。

And also, Jesse, we're trying to balance things. And I talked about as far as houses in the field, we have 4,600 homes in the field today versus 5,800 a year ago. So we do have fewer houses in the field. We did slow our business down, especially the last couple of quarters of last year. We do have 400 completed specs versus 200.

而且，傑西，我們正在努力平衡事情。我談到了現場房屋，我們現在有 4,600 套房屋，而一年前有 5,800 套。所以我們在該地區的房屋確實較少。我們確實放慢了業務速度，尤其是去年的最後幾季。我們確實有 400 個完整的規格，而實際規格只有 200 個。

So again, we're trying to be very mindful of all those things. Slashing prices and those type things are not the way we operate in general. We try to run a very conservative business, hard to get these subdivisions approved and land development houses built. So we're trying to balance all those things off, but the subdivisions are a little bit different.

再說一次，我們正努力非常注意所有這些事情。大幅降價之類的事情並不是我們一般的運作方式。我們試圖經營一家非常保守的企業，很難讓這些細分市場獲得批准並建造土地開發房屋。所以我們試圖平衡所有這些事情，但細分有點不同。

What I am particularly inspired by is the number of communities that we have. In the last week, I've been out driving communities in Houston, Orlando, and Columbus. I spent quite a bit of time in the field in all three in within the last week.

我特別受到啟發的是我們擁有的社區數量。上週，我開車前往休士頓、奧蘭多和哥倫布的社區。上週我在這三個領域都花了相當多的時間。

And the number of communities that we have, where we're still seeing very strong activity, it's not all of them, but there's certainly a healthy number of them that are still running at that three, four, five, in some cases, six sales a month.

我們所擁有的社區數量，我們仍然看到非常活躍的活動，雖然不是全部，但肯定有相當數量的社區仍在以三、四、五，在某些情況下，六運行一個月的銷量。

The demand is there. Obviously, the demand slows as rates go up. But I still think that that there's a strong desire for homeownership across a number of sectors, particularly millennials and right behind them, the Gen Z-ers.

需求就在那裡。顯然，隨著利率上升，需求放緩。但我仍然認為，許多行業都對擁有住房有著強烈的渴望，尤其是千禧世代以及緊隨其後的 Z 世代。

Thanks for the commentary. That's really helpful. One last one for me just on the mortgage rate buydown. You talked about maybe needing to do a little more. What exactly would that entail? Would that mean -- so if you are buying down rates from 7% to 6% -- and if rates go up to 8%, would you still buy now from 8% to 6%?

感謝您的評論。這真的很有幫助。我的最後一個問題是關於抵押貸款利率的下調。你談到也許需要做更多的事情。這到底意味著什麼？這是否意味著，如果您將利率從 7% 下調至 6%，而如果利率上升至 8%，您現在還會從 8% 下調至 6% 購買嗎？

That differs from market to market. There's some we may have to do more. Some of our markets, as long as -- I don't want to get into too much of this because some of our competitors might be listening. But in some of our markets, if we can just be in that 6.5% to 6.75% by bought down rate, we can see really good activity.

這因市場而異。有些事情我們可能需要做更多。我們的一些市場，只要——我不想介入太多，因為我們的一些競爭對手可能正在傾聽。但在我們的一些市場中，如果我們能夠將買入首付率控制在 6.5% 至 6.75% 之間，我們就能看到非常好的活動。

Over half of our sales are specs, but we don't have to provide long-term forward commitments. When over half of your sales are specs, you can deliver the house within 30 or 60 days, and that helps us as well.

我們一半以上的銷售額都是規格，但我們不必提供長期的遠期承諾。當您的銷售額一半以上是規格時，您可以在 30 或 60 天內交付房屋，這對我們也有幫助。

Some markets, we have to get in the low sixes. It's very expensive to get into the high fives. A lot of the fine print with that product, it's actually high credit scores north of 780 and so forth. Very few buyers can even do that. It might draw traffic, but then it might create frustration.

在某些市場，我們必須取得低分。擊掌的代價非常昂貴。該產品有很多細則，實際上它的信用評分高於 780 等等。很少有買家能做到這一點。它可能會吸引流量，但也可能會造成挫折感。

A little bit of the 2-1 buydown we're seeing, that's -- I've never personally been a big fan of that because I've never been a big fan of adjustable-rate mortgages, but we're seeing some buyers take that. This is a subdivision business and within each market, and so there are certain communities where we're doing more even within the same market, and that's how we're managing it. Right now, it takes a lot of precision and a lot of focus, and it's day to day, week to week.

我們所看到的 2-1 購買的一點點，那就是——我個人從來都不是這種做法的忠實粉絲，因為我從來都不是可調利率抵押貸款的忠實粉絲，但我們看到了一些買家拿著它。這是一個細分業務，在每個市場內，因此在某些社區，我們甚至在同一市場內做得更多，這就是我們的管理方式。現在，這需要大量的精確性和大量的專注，而且是日復一日、週復一周。

Very helpful commentary. Thank you and good luck on the upcoming quarter.

非常有幫助的評論。謝謝您，祝下一季好運。

Thanks a lot, Jesse.

非常感謝，傑西。

Carl Reichardt, BTIG.

卡爾雷查特 (Carl Reichardt)，BTIG。

Thanks. Hey, guys, hope you're doing well. (Multiple speakers) Just the big picture ones again for me. So your owned option split on your lots is roughly 50-50. I'm curious, A, if you're expecting that over the next couple of three years to change in any meaningful direction. Then second, what you're thinking about in terms of finished lot options on the option side versus land bank options versus self-development on the owned side.

謝謝。嘿，夥計們，希望你們一切順利。 （多個發言者）對我來說，這只是大局。因此，您擁有的選擇權在您的土地上的分配約為 50-50。我很好奇，A，你是否期望在接下來的三年裡，這種情況會朝任何有意義的方向改變。其次，您在考慮選擇權方的成品地塊選擇權、土地儲備選擇權以及自有方的自我開發的考量。

And then last, whether or not that mix is going to shift over time as you continue to do more Smart Series if we're expecting future lots to be more supportive of lower-end homes, or if you're happy with your split right now between move-up and Smart Series.

最後，如果我們預計未來的地段會更支持低端住宅，或者如果您對自己的分權感到滿意，那麼隨著您繼續做更多的智慧系列，這種組合是否會隨著時間的推移而發生變化現在介於 move-up 和 Smart 系列之間。

So the answers are no, not sure, and probably. No. Let me be more specific.

所以答案是否定的、不確定的、或可能的。不，讓我說得更具體一點。

Okay, thanks. I'll get out of queue.

好的謝謝。我會退出隊列。

Right. Sorry for the sarcasm. I'm going to take part of that and then maybe Phil will jump in. First question about owned versus optioned, for as long as I think I've sat in this chair, the person sitting next to me has been iron assed, and that's Phil Creek, about not letting us ever get in a position where we own more than a two- to three-year supply.

正確的。抱歉諷刺。我將參與其中，然後也許菲爾會加入。第一個問題是關於擁有還是選擇，只要我認為我坐在這把椅子上，坐在我旁邊的人就是鐵屁股，並且這就是菲爾·克里克（Phil Creek），他的建議是永遠不要讓我們擁有超過兩到三年的供應量。

And he's right. And that's the way we think about the business. On top of the two- to three-year supply that we own, we try to control another several years beyond that so that we can achieve10% to 15% top-line growth if the market will allow. I don't see that changing. That is as -- there's not a lot of things in this world that are black and white. That's pretty black and white at M/I Homes, so I don't see that changing.

他是對的。這就是我們思考業務的方式。除了我們擁有的兩到三年的供應量之外，我們還嘗試控制另外幾年的供應量，以便在市場允許的情況下，我們能夠實現 10% 到 15% 的收入成長。我認為這種情況不會改變。也就是說，這個世界上沒有很多事情是非黑即白的。 M/I Homes 的情況非常黑白分明，所以我認為這種情況不會改變。

The second question, remind me what it was again.

第二個問題，再次提醒我那是什麼。

I was asking about finished lot option contracts versus land bank on the option side. (Multiple speakers)

我問的是成品地塊選擇權合約與選擇權方面的土地儲備。 （多位發言者）

Land banking is not something that we're very interested in. We don't feel -- we've never felt we needed to do it. I know some builders do and maybe they understand it better than we do, but it's not something that we've ever felt we needed to do. Our number-one priority with respect to land, and frankly, even now that's even more emphasized in our company, it's to do what it takes to secure premier locations.

土地儲備不是我們非常感興趣的事情。我們不覺得——我們從來沒有覺得我們需要這樣做。我知道有些建築商會這樣做，也許他們比我們更了解這一點，但這不是我們認為需要做的事情。我們在土地方面的首要任務是，坦白說，即使現在我們公司更加強調這一點，那就是盡一切努力確保獲得首要位置。

Things get choppy, and we're seeing it now with rising rates. Many of our locations are still performing at a very, very high level, shockingly so in light of the fact that rates have just gone up as fast as they have over the last 12 to whatever number of months.

事情變得不穩定，我們現在看到利率不斷上升。我們的許多地點仍然保持著非常非常高的水平，令人震驚的是，考慮到費率在過去 12 個月（無論是多少個月）中上漲的速度一樣快。

So job one, premier locations; and land banking, not particularly interested in. We'd love to maintain, if we could, a roughly 50% balance between that which we internally develop and that which we buy from developers on option contracts.

所以工作一，首要地點；如果可以的話，我們希望在我們內部開發的產品和透過選擇權合約從開發商購買的產品之間保持大約 50% 的平衡。

Honestly, if we could, we'd love 80%, 90% to be bought from third-party developers under option contracts. That's not rational. We wouldn't have a business if that's all we did. There's too many markets where there's virtually no developers, and we're not going to use our balance sheet to support land bankers.

老實說，如果可以的話，我們希望根據期權合約從第三方開發商那裡購買 80%、90% 的土地。這不合理。如果我們只做這些，我們就沒有生意了。有太多市場幾乎沒有開發商，我們不會用我們的資產負債表來支持土地銀行家。

So right now, 50-50 is a little bit skewed towards our own development. I'll let Phil jump into that. That's moved closer to 60% to 70% internally developed here over the last year or so.

所以現在50-50有點偏向我們自己的發展。我會讓菲爾參與其中。在過去一年左右的時間裡，內部開發的內容已接近 60% 至 70%。

Yes. Carl, just to stay on that a little bit, we like to own a two- to three-year supply of land based on current closing rate today with our closing run rate of about 8,000. We own about 23,000. So that's kind of where we are. And inside that two- to three-year supply, we'd like to have one year of finished lots. And again, that's about where we are also.

是的。 Carl，簡單說一下，根據今天的收盤價，我們希望擁有兩到三年的土地供應，而我們的收盤價約為 8,000。我們擁有大約 23,000 個。這就是我們現在的處境。在兩到三年的供應範圍內，我們希望有一年的成品。再說一遍，這也是我們目前的處境。

So we feel good about what we own. As far as off the books, tying up another year too is fine. We have a little over 20,000 lots off the books. The risk dollars we have in that is about $75 million. It's about 8% of the value of the contracts. We believe the best land banker is the land seller. But again, every deal is a little bit different.

所以我們對自己所擁有的感覺良好。就帳簿外的情況而言，多待一年也不錯。我們還有 20,000 多件未售出的拍品。我們的風險資金約為 7500 萬美元。這大約是合約價值的8%。我們相信最好的土地銀行家是土地賣家。但同樣，每筆交易都略有不同。

Bob talked about job one is premier locations. Today, we are developing 70% to 80% of our own land depending on the market. What we need to do, we really try to make as much as we can the competitive -- the land area a competitive advantage for us.

鮑伯談到第一項工作是首要地點。如今，我們正在根據市場狀況開發70%至80%的自有土地。我們需要做的是，我們確實盡力使土地面積成為我們的競爭優勢。

We have spent a lot of time the last couple of years on our land acquisition teams, our land development teams, helping sellers get land through zoning, through approvals before we take title to it. But we feel very good overall about our land position.

過去幾年，我們在土地徵用團隊、土地開發團隊上花費了大量時間，幫助賣家在獲得所有權之前透過分區、批准取得土地。但我們對我們的土地地位整體感覺非常好。

And as we've said before, when you look at our 17 markets, we just opened our first community in Nashville in the last month. We're starting to get some things going in our Fort Myers-Naples area. So we think we have room to do 12,000-13,000 units in our existing 17 markets. And we think that our land position is really in good shape for the next couple of years.

正如我們之前所說，當你看看我們的 17 個市場時，我們上個月剛剛在納許維爾開設了第一個社區。我們開始在邁爾斯堡-那不勒斯地區進行一些工作。因此，我們認為我們有空間在現有 17 個市場生產 12,000-13,000 台。我們認為，未來幾年我們的土地狀況確實處於良好狀態。

Guys, thanks so much for all the detail. Just the last one is on the mix going forward between Smart Series and other product, if you look at your own lots plus your controlled lots the future, if that's going to alter any meaningful way. Thanks.

夥計們，非常感謝您提供的所有細節。最後一個是關於智慧系列和其他產品之間的混合，如果你看看你自己的批次和你控制的批次的未來，如果這會改變任何有意義的方式。謝謝。

I think it's going to go up a little bit more. We've talked about this. It seems a number of times over the last two, three, four, or five calls like this. I remember when it was 25%, we said we thought we could get to 30% or 35%. Then when it got to 35%, we thought it could get to 40% to 45%. Then when it got to 40% to 45%, we thought it could get to 50% to 55%.

我認為它還會再上漲一點。我們已經討論過這個了。過去的兩次、三次、四次或五次這樣的通話似乎有好幾次了。我記得當時是 25%，我們說我們認為可以達到 30% 或 35%。然後當它達到35%時，我們認為它可以達到40%到45%。然後當它達到40%到45%時，我們認為它可以達到50%到55%。

It's at 50% to 55% now. we continue to really push with more affordable product. I mentioned in my remarks earlier that several years ago -- it has probably been three or four years ago, frankly, when we really set out and focused on designing even more affordable product with narrower single-family, expanding our attached townhome product offering from -- it was pretty good then. It's a lot more robust now.

現在是50%到55%。我們將繼續努力推出更實惠的產品。我在早些時候的演講中提到，幾年前- 坦率地說，可能是三四年前，當我們真正開始並專注於設計更實惠的單戶產品時，將我們的附屬聯排別墅產品範圍從——那時候就已經很不錯了。現在它更加強大了。

So I think that with all of that, and just because of what's going on, I could see it getting up there to 60% or 65% at some point when you look at our new communities and where things are headed. And we're getting better absorption. So even if the community mix stayed the same, the fact that the absorptions in them, with the more affordable product, are holding up better.

所以我認為，考慮到所有這些，並且僅僅因為正在發生的事情，當你看看我們的新社區和事情的發展方向時，我可以看到它在某個時候會上升到 60% 或 65%。而且我們的吸收效果越來越好。因此，即使社區組合保持不變，他們的吸收率以及更實惠的產品也能保持更好的狀態。

Having said all that, our move-up product is outstanding. It sells well, fares well, its margin is well. I like the diversity. We don't have to put all our eggs in one basket, and we're not going to. So I like the mix. I like the small component of empty nester that we offer as well.

話雖如此，我們的升級產品非常出色。它賣得很好，價格也很好，利潤也很高。我喜歡多樣性。我們不必把所有的雞蛋放在一個籃子裡，我們也不會這麼做。所以我喜歡這種混合。我也喜歡我們提供的空巢老人的小組件。

And I think we've sort of got the pieces in the right place. But it could go up a little bit, Carl, just because of what's happening in the economy. And 55% of our buyers are first-time buyers now. And I think that's -- likely, the effect continues to stay about that level or even go up a little, fueled by millennial and Gen Z-ers, which it likely will be. That could also push that Smart Series mix number up.

我認為我們已經把各個部分放在了正確的位置。但卡爾，由於經濟形勢的變化，它可能會略有上升。現在我們 55% 的買家是首次買家。我認為，在千禧世代和 Z 世代的推動下，這種影響很可能繼續保持在這個水平，甚至略有上升，而且很可能會如此。這也可能會增加智慧系列的混合數量。

Interesting, Carl, is that last year, we opened a little over 100 new stores. This year, we're on target to open about 85. We've opened like 56 through the first nine months. So if we end the year with 225 or so, 185 of them will have opened in the last 24 months. So again, that's been a great opportunity for us, not only location product and price point. We're really trying to pay attention to affordability for sure.

卡爾，有趣的是，去年我們新開了 100 多家新店。今年，我們的目標是開設 85 家左右。前 9 個月，我們已經開了 56 家。因此，如果今年年底有 225 家左右開業，那麼其中 185 家將在過去 24 個月內開業。再說一次，這對我們來說是一個很好的機會，不僅僅是位置產品和價格點。我們確實在努力關注負擔能力。

That's great detail. Thank you so much, Phil. Thanks, Bob.

這是非常詳細的。非常感謝你，菲爾。謝謝，鮑伯。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Thanks, Carl.

謝謝，卡爾。

Alex Barron, Housing Research Center.

亞歷克斯·巴倫，住房研究中心。

Yes. Thanks, guys, and great job so far this year. Obviously, your leverage has come down significantly. You've built a nice cash balance. I mean, if things continue as they are, do you guys see the potential to increase the stock buyback activity? Given that -- I mean, I don't know what else you guys plan to do with the cash, but can you comment on that?

是的。謝謝大家，今年到目前為止做得很好。顯然，你的槓桿率已經大幅下降。您已經建立了良好的現金餘額。我的意思是，如果事情繼續這樣下去，你們認為有可能增加股票回購活動嗎？有鑑於此——我的意思是，我不知道你們還打算用這筆現金做什麼，但你們能對此發表評論嗎？

Sure, Alex, and that's something, obviously, we watch very close. I mean, job one is always how the business is doing, what do we think the outlook is for the business. And again, we feel really good about that. We will be spending -- continue to spend money on land. Year to date, we've spent about $600 million. We're spending a little more on land develop right now. There are land purchases.

當然，亞歷克斯，顯然，我們非常密切地關注這一點。我的意思是，第一項工作始終是業務的運作方式，我們認為業務的前景如何。再說一遍，我們對此感覺非常好。我們將繼續在土地上花錢。今年迄今為止，我們已經花費了大約 6 億美元。我們現在在土地開發上花費更多。有土地購買。

So land spend will continue to take part of it. We did spend more on stock buyback in the third quarter than we did in the second. We spent $25 million in the third quarter, and that's something we'll just continue to look at because we do have a whole lot of liquidity, little more cash than we thought. It is benefiting from improved cycle time in that we have been closing a few more houses than we thought we would.

因此，土地支出將繼續成為其中的一部分。第三季我們在股票回購上的支出確實比第二季多。我們在第三季花費了 2500 萬美元，我們將繼續關注這一點，因為我們確實擁有大量流動資金，而現金比我們想像的多一點點。它受益於週期時間的縮短，因為我們關閉的房屋數量比我們想像的要多。

And again, we're hoping to catch up in the field. I mentioned before, right now, we have about 1,200 less homes in this deal than a year ago. We do expect we'll put quite a few more houses in the field in the fourth quarter than we did a year ago. We'll now take some cash also. But the short answer is we will continue to look at stock repurchases as part of (technical difficulty) capital.

我們再次希望能夠在這一領域迎頭趕上。我之前提到過，目前我們在這筆交易中的房屋數量比一年前減少了約 1,200 套。我們確實預計第四季度將比一年前建造更多的房屋。我們現在還要拿一些現金。但簡短的答案是，我們將繼續將股票回購視為（技術難度）資本的一部分。

Yes, it seems very interesting, given that especially the market doesn't want to give you another builder's credit and the stock is trading below 1 times book. So it seems like a great allocation of capital.

是的，這看起來很有趣，特別是考慮到市場不想給你另一個建築商的信用，而且股票的交易價格低於帳面價值的一倍。因此，這似乎是一次龐大的資本配置。

But anyway, my next question is -- you guys mentioned that your sales went up, I think, north of 80% in September. I wasn't sure what the actual number was relative to August. So was that actually sequentially higher or it just looks bigger because of what happened last year?

但無論如何，我的下一個問題是——你們提到你們的銷售額在 9 月增加了 80% 以上。我不確定相對於八月的實際數字是多少。那麼，這個數字實際上是連續上升的，還是只是因為去年發生的事情而看起來更大？

And if it was higher, was that because you guys did some type of sales events or what drove that?

如果更高，是因為你們舉辦了某種類型的銷售活動還是是什麼推動了這一點？

Alex, as Bob said, the months in the quarter were pretty comparable. Last year, we only sold 1,300 homes in the third quarter. We sold about 650 in July and August and a little over 700 in September. We did open a number of stores toward the end of the third quarter. So I wouldn't say there any really anything big or different month to month in there.

亞歷克斯，正如鮑勃所說，本季的幾個月相當可比。去年第三季我們只售出了 1,300 間房屋。 7 月和 8 月我們售出約 650 輛，9 月售出略多於 700 輛。在第三季末，我們確實開設了一些商店。所以我不會說每個月都有什麼大的或不同的事情。

No. I mean, we did have some end-of-month promotion that we typically do every September around this time. I think it was largely new communities. I don't think there's anything really more to read into that. It was an easier comp also, which skews that somewhat. But relative month to month, it was it was pretty close, certainly within 10%.

不，我的意思是，我們確實有一些月末促銷活動，通常每年 9 月的這個時候都會進行。我認為這主要是新社區。我認為沒有什麼值得進一步解讀的。這也是一個更容易的組合，這有點扭曲。但相對於每個月來說，它非常接近，肯定在 10% 之內。

Got it. And if I could ask one more, some builders are offering money to -- I mean, everybody to some degree or others are buying down the rates below market rates. But are you guys using more money that you give individually to buyers to buy down the rate, or are you spending more of the money on forward commitments? How are you going about lowering the interest rate for buyers?

知道了。如果我能再問一個問題的話，一些建築商正在提供資金——我的意思是，每個人或其他人都在某種程度上以低於市場價格的價格購買。但你們是用更多的錢單獨給買家來降低利率，還是把更多的錢花在遠期承諾上？您打算如何降低買家的利率？

Well, I'm going to let Derek answer that because he understands that a lot better than I do. But basically, the short answer is it's all done through our mortgage operation, M/I Financial. We don't give the money to the buyer and let them go market and figure out who to do business with. Derek, if you want to talk about it --

好吧，我會讓德里克回答這個問題，因為他比我更了解這一點。但基本上，簡短的回答是這一切都是透過我們的抵押貸款業務 M/I Financial 完成的。我們不會把錢給買家，然後讓他們去市場找找誰做生意。德瑞克，如果你想談談——

Yes, sure. Alex, it's -- and Bob had mentioned earlier, it's really division by division, even community by community. And we do a combination of individual interest rate locks and forward commitments. We work with the divisions, what it's going to take, what the market's looking for. It's not a one size fits all. We mix it all.

是的，當然。亞歷克斯，鮑勃之前提到過，這實際上是一個部門一個部門，甚至一個社區一個社區。我們將個人利率鎖定和遠期承諾結合起來。我們與各部門合作，了解需要做什麼、市場需要什麼。它不是一刀切的。我們將它們混合在一起。

It's all done through M/I Financial.

這一切都是透過 M/I Financial 完成的。

All done through M/I Financial with the below-market interest rates offered through our mortgage company.

所有這些都是透過 M/I Financial 完成的，並透過我們的抵押貸款公司提供低於市場的利率。

And is that a large percentage of your buyers that are taking advantage of those types of promotions? Or are there still some people who would rather use the money for something else?

您的買家中是否有很大比例正在利用這些類型的促銷活動？或者還有一些人寧願用這筆錢做其他事嗎？

One thing I would add, Alex, is that when we price our houses, there's a certain amount always priced in for financing and closing costs. And again, that's a subdivision-by-subdivision decision. Some people need help in closing costs. Some people need rate bought down for different reasons.

亞歷克斯，我要補充的一件事是，當我們為房屋定價時，總有一定金額用於融資和成交成本。再說一遍，這是一個逐一細分的決定。有些人需要幫助來結清成本。有些人出於不同的原因需要降價購買。

And as I mentioned earlier, we had an 86% capture rate in the quarter. So I think that shows that a majority of the buyers like to use the mortgage company for the lower interest rates.

正如我之前提到的，我們本季的捕獲率為 86%。所以我認為這表明大多數買家喜歡使用抵押貸款公司來獲得較低的利率。

Got it. Well, keep up the good work. Thanks, guys.

知道了。好吧，繼續努力。多謝你們。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Thanks, Alex.

謝謝，亞歷克斯。

(Operator Instructions) Jay McCanless, Wedbush.

（操作員說明）Jay McCanless，Wedbush。

Good morning, guys. I think, Derek, you may have just answered my first question, which, what percentage of either closings or orders in the third quarter were people who use some type of financing incentives.

早上好傢伙。我想，德里克，你可能剛剛回答了我的第一個問題，即第三季度的成交量或訂單中使用某種融資激勵措施的人所佔的百分比是多少。

We don't necessarily track that. But just generally, it feels like the vast majority are using the below-market interest rate.

我們不一定會跟蹤它。但總的來說，感覺絕大多數人都在使用低於市場的利率。

It's got to be in the high 80s.

應該是80多歲吧

Yes.

是的。

Okay, and then a couple of different questions on price. The first one, what percentage of communities were you able to raise or hold price this quarter, and how has that been faring in October?

好的，然後是關於價格的幾個不同問題。第一個，本季度您能夠提高或維持價格的社區有多少百分比？十月份的情況如何？

Jay, that's a really hard answer. Every subdivision is a little different. The communities that opened during the quarter, we feel very good. They performed a little better than our expectations. We track very careful what the margins are overall because that's the ultimate test. And our margins have really continued to be pretty strong.

傑伊，這真是一個很難回答的問題。每個細分都有點不同。本季開業的社區，我們感覺非常好。他們的表現比我們的預期好一些。我們非常仔細地追蹤整體利潤，因為這是最終的測試。我們的利潤率確實持續保持強勁。

But as Bob said, I mean, demand is okay. It's definitely been impacted a little bit recently with rates getting up in that 8% range. We feel pretty good about our pricing and our margins but may very well be some pressure in the next couple of quarters.

但正如鮑伯所說，我的意思是，需求是可以的。最近，隨著利率上升到 8% 的範圍，它肯定受到了一些影響。我們對我們的定價和利潤率感覺非常好，但在接下來的幾個季度中很可能會面臨一些壓力。

Jay, knowing what we know at this moment, likelihood that we're going to have any kind of pricing power over the next number of weeks, I don't see it. I mean, right now, demand is a little choppy. I think it's going to be sit tight, let's see how things are for a while.

傑伊，知道我們目前所知道的情況，我們可能在接下來的幾週內擁有任何定價能力，我不認為這一點。我的意思是，現在需求有點波動。我認為應該先靜觀其變，讓我們看看情況如何。

Plus, we're entering into -- normally, as we get closer to, I can't believe it's almost here, but Thanksgiving, things start to slow down anyway. So I think right now, there's a little -- I don't see much pricing leverage right now, in other words, our ability to raise prices.

另外，我們正在進入——通常情況下，當我們越來越接近時，我不敢相信它就快到了，但感恩節，無論如何，事情開始放緩。所以我認為現在有一點——我現在沒有看到太多的定價槓桿，換句話說，我們有能力提高價格。

The second question I had on price, if you look at the southern segments' average backlog price, that was -- went down from $543,000 last year to $503,000 this year. Is that shift lower permanent because of what you talked about with more [attached products], more Smart Series, or was that just kind of a one-quarter anomaly and it should start to gravitate back higher?

我關於價格的第二個問題，如果你看看南部地區的平均積壓價格，那就是——從去年的 543,000 美元下降到今年的 503,000 美元。這種轉變是否是永久性的，因為你談到了更多的[附加產品]、更多的智慧系列，或者這只是四分之一的異常現象，它應該開始回升？

I think that we're very -- first of all, the large part of it is because of a greater mix of Smart Series in the number of those markets, and we're -- I don't know how much lower it will go. I think, at some point, average price starts to level off.

我認為我們非常 - 首先，很大一部分是因為這些市場數量中智慧系列的混合程度更大，而且我們 - 我不知道它會低多少去。我認為，在某個時候，平均價格開始趨於平穩。

But I think it's -- that was not an accident. That was not something that oh my God, what happened? That's a result of very intentional new communities, more affordable product, more attached, more narrow single-family, trying to continue to offer what we think we do really well at even lower price points.

但我認為這並非偶然。這不是天哪，發生了什麼事？這是非常有意的新社區、更實惠的產品、更緊密、更狹窄的單戶住宅的結果，試圖繼續以更低的價格提供我們認為我們真正擅長的產品。

Phil, I don't know if you have any --

菲爾，我不知道你是否有——

Yes, I agree with that. Jay, if you look at the backlog, average sale price was $507,000 on June 30. It's $510,000 on September 30. I would expect that to come down a little bit next year, as Bob said, with more affordable product and those types of things.

是的，我同意這一點。 Jay，如果你看一下積壓訂單，6 月30 日的平均售價為507,000 美元。9 月30 日為510,000 美元。我預計明年會有所下降，正如鮑勃所說，有更實惠的產品和此類東西。

In particular, the next gets to be -- San Antonio and Houston are our most affordable price points. Again, as those divisions go up and down, some of that is impacted.

特別是，下一個是——聖安東尼奧和休斯頓是我們最實惠的價格點。同樣，隨著這些部門的上下浮動，其中一些會受到影響。

But throughout our divisions -- again, townhome communities, attached townhome communities, I think we had 24 of them at the end of the first quarter. At the end of September, we had 30. We had six more attached townhome communities. And in general, those are more affordable price points. So again, we're trying to pay a lot of attention to that because primarily, we are in the payment business, and we really want to watch affordability.

但在我們的各個部門——聯排別墅社區、附屬聯排別墅社區，我認為第一季末我們有 24 個。 9 月底，我們有 30 個。我們還有 6 個附屬聯排別墅社區。一般來說，這些都是更實惠的價格點。再說一遍，我們正努力對此給予更多關注，因為主要是我們從事支付業務，我們真的很想專注於負擔能力。

Understood. So continuing on with maybe a little bit of a look ahead to '24, do you feel like you can still generate double-digit community growth and you're going to end up with, I think, 15%, 20% growth this year? Should we expect something in that range for going into '24?

明白了。因此，繼續展望 24 年，您是否認為您仍然可以實現兩位數的社群成長，並且我認為今年您最終會實現 15%、20% 的成長？我們是否應該期待 24 世紀會出現這個範圍內的情況？

Jay, we don't have any projections out there at this stage. But do we expect the average community count next year to be up over this year? The answer is yes, and really honing yet on a point in time because we do develop a lot of our own stuff. It does take a little more time to get things open. But we do expect average community count to be up next year compared to this year. (Multiple speakers)

傑伊，現階段我們沒有任何預測。但我們預計明年的平均社區數量會比今年增加嗎？答案是肯定的，而且在某個時間點上確實還在磨練，因為我們確實發展了很多自己的東西。確實需要更多的時間才能把事情打開。但我們確實預計明年的平均社區數量將比今年增加。 （多位發言者）

Jay, we're looking to grow the business. We're not going to get our leverage out of whack. You know us, we want to keep our leverage really low. We're not going to start getting our land owned versus optioned out of whack. That's already been addressed during this call. But our goal is to grow the business and to continue to gain market share. That's going to take more communities.

傑伊，我們正在尋求發展業務。我們不會失去槓桿作用。你了解我們，我們希望將槓桿率保持在很低的水平。我們不會開始讓我們的土地失去所有權或選擇權。在這次電話會議中已經解決了這個問題。但我們的目標是發展業務並繼續獲得市場份額。這將需要更多的社區。

Understood. Okay, that's all I had. Thanks, guys. I appreciate it.

明白了。好吧，這就是我所擁有的一切。多謝你們。我很感激。

Good to talk to you.

很高興和你說話。

You too.

你也是。

Thank you. And as there are no further questions in the queue at this time, I'll hand the floor back to our speakers for the closing comments.

謝謝。由於此時隊列中沒有其他問題，我將把發言權交還給我們的發言人進行總結評論。

Thank you for joining us. I look forward to talking to you next quarter.

感謝您加入我們。我期待下個季度與您交談。

This now concludes the conference. Thank you all very much for attending. You may now disconnect your lines.

會議現在結束。非常感謝大家的出席。現在您可以斷開線路。