M/I Homes Inc (MHO) 2025 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the M/I Homes first-quarter earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) This call is being recorded on Wednesday, April 23, 2025.

女士們、先生們，早安，歡迎參加 M/I Homes 第一季財報電話會議。（操作員指示）此通話於 2025 年 4 月 23 日星期三錄製。

I would now like to turn the conference over to Mr. Phil Creek. Please go ahead.

現在我想將會議交給菲爾·克里克先生。請繼續。

Thank you for joining us. With me on the call 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. 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.

感謝您加入我們。與我一起參加電話會議的還有我們的執行長兼總裁 Bob Schottenstein 和我們的抵押貸款公司總裁 Derek Klutch。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就您認為重要的問題提出任何問題，因為我們被禁止直接與您討論重大的非公開事項。至於前瞻性陳述，我想提醒大家，今天的新聞稿中包含的關於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。此外，請注意，本公司不承擔更新本次電話會議中所做的任何前瞻性陳述的義務。

With that, I'll turn the call over to Bob.

說完這些，我會把電話轉給鮑伯。

Thanks, Phil. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us.

謝謝，菲爾。大家早安，感謝大家的收看。

In the first quarter dominated by rapidly changing and mostly challenging macroeconomic conditions, M/I Homes posted very solid results. We appreciate the opportunity to share our results with you. Before we do, however, I want to address more specifically the macro environment and how it has impacted the housing industry and our business.

在宏觀經濟條件快速變化且充滿挑戰的第一季度，M/I Homes 取得了非常穩健的表現。我們很高興有機會與您分享我們的成果。不過，在此之前，我想更具體地談談宏觀環境以及它對住房產業和我們的業務的影響。

When we last spoke sharing our 2024 year-end, record-setting results, we commented then on the changing economic conditions and demand challenges we faced particularly during the third and fourth quarters of last year when mortgage rates began to rise. It was during that time last year that we first implemented mortgage rate buydowns to drive traffic and incent sales.

上次我們分享 2024 年年末創紀錄的業績時，我們評論了我們面臨的不斷變化的經濟狀況和需求挑戰，特別是在去年第三季度和第四季度抵押貸款利率開始上升的時候。去年那個時候，我們首次實施了抵押貸款利率降低政策，以推動客流量和刺激銷售。

As demand for housing became more uneven during last year's fourth quarter, the need for such rate buydowns became an even more important part of our sales strategy, carefully utilized by us on a subdivision-by-subdivision basis to try and maximize both volume and margins. As we began 2025, it was clear to us that rate buydowns remain necessary for us to drive traffic and promote sales, and that such rate buydowns would continue throughout the spring selling season unless and until it became clear that consistent and solid demand had returned.

由於去年第四季房屋需求變得更加不均衡，這種利率下調的需求成為我們銷售策略中更重要的一部分，我們在各個細分市場中謹慎地利用了這一策略，試圖最大限度地提高銷量和利潤率。當我們開始 2025 年時，我們清楚地認識到，降低價格對於推動客流量和促進銷售仍然是必要的，並且這種降低價格的做法將在整個春季銷售季節持續下去，除非並且直到明確出現持續而穩固的需求恢復為止。

Clearly, that has not happened. Instead, what we have seen is the continuation of choppy and challenging conditions. While there has been some uptick in demand during the first quarter, the spring selling season has been just okay. Frankly, we grade it somewhere between a B minus to C plus.

顯然，這並沒有發生。相反，我們看到的是動盪和挑戰的局面持續存在。儘管第一季需求回升，但春季銷售旺季表現一般。坦白說，我們給它的評分在 B- 到 C+ 之間。

Clearly, this has been a period marked by uncertainty, a volatile stock market, the back and forth with threat in tariffs, concerns with inflation, interest rate fluctuations mostly going up, talk of a recession, and not surprisingly, a decline in consumer confidence. Despite all of this, we were able to post very solid first quarter results.

顯然，這是一個充滿不確定性的時期，股市動盪，關稅威脅反复，通膨擔憂，利率波動加劇，經濟衰退傳聞不斷，而且毫不奇怪，消費者信心下降。儘管如此，我們仍然能夠發布非常穩健的第一季業績。

While new contracts were down 10% compared to last year, we believe we were effective in balancing pace and price as our gross margins were a strong 25.9%, a sequential improvement over 2024's fourth quarter, reflecting some pricing power in the first quarter as well as the positive impact of select new communities. But margins were down 120 basis points from last year's first quarter. Given the need to continue using rate buydowns for the foreseeable future, our gross margins will likely be under some pressure as we move through the year and continue to be below 2024's full-year margins of 26.6%.

雖然新合約數量較去年下降了 10%，但我們相信我們有效地平衡了速度和價格，因為我們的毛利率高達 25.9%，比 2024 年第四季度有所改善，反映了第一季度的一些定價能力以及精選新社區的積極影響。但利潤率較去年第一季下降了 120 個基點。鑑於在可預見的未來需要繼續使用利率下調，我們的毛利率在今年可能會承受一些壓力，並繼續低於 2024 年全年 26.6% 的利潤率。

54% of our buyers are now using our rate buydowns compared to just under 50% during last year's fourth quarter. That said, the credit quality of our buyers continues to be strong, with average credit scores of 746 and average down payments of 17% or nearly $90,000. Homes delivered during the quarter decreased by 8% to 1,976 homes, and revenues decreased by 7% to $976 million. Pre-tax income decreased by 19% to $146 million, though our pre-tax income margin was a very strong 15%, and we generated a very solid 19% return on equity. We ended the quarter with a record 226 communities and remain on track to grow our community count in 2025 by an average of 5%.

目前，54% 的買家正在使用我們的利率降低服務，而去年第四季這一比例略低於 50%。儘管如此，我們的買家的信用品質仍然保持強勁，平均信用評分為 746，平均首付為 17% 或近 90,000 美元。本季交付房屋數量下降 8% 至 1,976 套，營收下降 7% 至 9.76 億美元。稅前收入下降了 19%，至 1.46 億美元，儘管我們的稅前利潤率高達 15%，而且我們的股本回報率也達到了 19%。本季結束時，我們的社區數量達到創紀錄的 226 個，並且預計在 2025 年將社區數量平均增加 5%。

With regard to our markets, our division income contributions in the first quarter were led by Dallas, Chicago, Columbus, Charlotte, and Minneapolis. New contracts for the first quarter in our northern region decreased by 8%. New contracts in our southern region decreased by 11% compared to last year's first quarter. Our deliveries in the southern region decreased 13%, and our deliveries in the northern region decreased by 2% from a year ago. 58% of our deliveries come out of the southern region, the other 42% out of the northern region.

就我們的市場而言，第一季我們部門的收入貢獻主要來自達拉斯、芝加哥、哥倫布、夏洛特和明尼阿波利斯。我們北方地區第一季的新合約減少了8%。我們南方地區的新合約與去年第一季相比下降了11%。與去年相比，我們在南方地區的交付量下降了 13%，在北方地區的交付量下降了 2%。 58% 的交付量來自南方地區，其餘 42% 來自北方地區。

We have an excellent land position. Our owned and controlled lot position in the southern region increased by 11% compared to a year ago and was flat versus last year in the northern region. 32% of our owned and controlled lots are in our northern region, the other 60% in our southern region. Company-wide, we own approximately 25,000 lots, which is slightly less than a three-year supply. In addition, we control approximately 26,000 additional lots via option contracts, resulting in a total of 51,100 owned and controlled lots, equating to about a five-year supply.

我們擁有優越的土地位置。我們在南部地區擁有和控制的地塊數量與去年相比增加了 11%，而在北部地區則與去年持平。我們擁有和控制的地塊中有 32% 位於北部地區，其餘 60% 位於南部地區。在整個公司範圍內，我們擁有約 25,000 個地塊，略少於三年的供應量。此外，我們還透過選擇權合約控制了大約 26,000 個額外地塊，總計擁有和控制 51,100 個地塊，相當於大約五年的供應量。

With respect to our balance sheet, we ended the first quarter of 2025 with the strongest balance sheet in company history, with all-time record $3 billion of equity, equating to a book value per share of $112. We also ended the quarter with zero borrowings under our $650 million dollars unsecured revolving credit facility, and this resulted in a debt to capital ratio of 19%, down from 21% a year ago, and a net debt to capital ratio of negative 3%.

就我們的資產負債表而言，我們在 2025 年第一季結束時擁有公司歷史上最強勁的資產負債表，股權價值達到歷史最高水準的 30 億美元，相當於每股帳面價值 112 美元。本季末，我們在 6.5 億美元無擔保循環信貸額度下的借款為零，這導致債務資本比率為 19%，低於一年前的 21%，淨債務資本比率為-3%。

As I conclude, we plan to continue to offer rate buydown incentives to meet demand, and as mentioned earlier, we will likely continue to experience some compression in our gross margins throughout the year compared to what our margins were in 2024.

最後，我們計劃繼續提供利率買斷激勵措施以滿足需求，如前所述，與 2024 年的利潤率相比，我們全年的毛利率可能會繼續受到一定壓縮。

Despite the short-term volatility and many market uncertainties, we remain very optimistic about our business and believe over the long term, the home building industry will continue to benefit from an undersupply of homes as well as growing household formations throughout our 17 markets. We are well positioned as we begin the second quarter of '25 and expect to have a solid year in 2025.

儘管短期內市場波動較大且存在諸多不確定性，但我們仍然對自己的業務非常樂觀，並相信從長遠來看，住宅建築行業將繼續受益於住房供應不足以及我們 17 個市場中家庭數量的增長。在 2025 年第二季開始時，我們已經做好了充分的準備，並預計 2025 年將會取得穩健的表現。

And with that, I'll turn it over to Phil.

說完這些，我就把麥克風交給菲爾。

Thanks, Bob. Our new contracts were down 10% when compared to last year. They were down 20% in January, down 10% in February, and down 2% in March. And our cancellation rate for the first quarter was 10%. 50% of our first-quarter sales were to first time buyers, and 65% were inventory homes.

謝謝，鮑伯。與去年相比，我們的新合約下降了 10%。1月下降了20%，2月下降了10%，3月下降了2%。我們第一季的取消率為 10%。第一季我們 50% 的銷售額來自首次購屋者，65% 是庫存房。

Our community count was 226 at the end of the first quarter compared to 219 a year ago. The breakdown by region is 98 in the northern region and 128 in the southern region. During the quarter, we opened 27 new communities while closing 21. We currently estimate that our average 2025 community count will be about 5% higher than last year. We delivered 1,976 homes in the first quarter, delivering 78% of our backlog, and about 35% of our first-quarter deliveries came from inventory homes that were sold and delivered in the quarter.

第一季末，我們的社區數量為 226 個，去年同期為 219 個。依地區劃分，北部地區有98家，南部地區有128家。本季度，我們開設了 27 個新社區，同時關閉了 21 個。我們目前估計，2025 年的平均社區數量將比去年高出約 5%。我們在第一季度交付了 1,976 套房屋，交付了 78% 的積壓訂單，第一季交付量的約 35% 來自本季度售出並交付的庫存房屋。

And in March 31, we had 4,800 homes in the field versus 4,500 homes in the field a year ago. Our revenue decreased 7% in the first quarter, and our average closing price in the first quarter was $476,000, a 1% increase when compared to last year. Our first-quarter gross margin was 25.9%, down 120 basis points year over year and up 130 basis points over last year's fourth quarter. Our first-quarter SG&A expenses were 11.5% of revenue compared to 10.5% a year ago. Our first-quarter expenses increased 2% versus a year ago.

截至 3 月 31 日，我們的現場住房數量為 4,800 套，而去年同期為 4,500 套。我們第一季的營收下降了 7%，第一季的平均收盤價為 47.6 萬美元，比去年同期上漲了 1%。我們第一季的毛利率為25.9%，年減120個基點，比去年第四季上升130個基點。我們第一季的銷售、一般及行政費用佔營收的 11.5%，去年同期為 10.5%。我們第一季的支出比去年同期增加了 2%。

Our increased costs were primarily due to increased community count and additional headcount. Interest income, net of interest expense for the quarter was $5.2 million, and our interest incurred was $8.8 million. Our pre-tax income was 15%, and our return on equity was 19%.

我們的成本增加主要是因為社區數量增加和員工人數增加。本季利息收入扣除利息支出後為 520 萬美元，利息支出為 880 萬美元。我們的稅前收入為15%，股本報酬率為19%。

During the quarter, we generated $154 million of EBITDA compared to $187 million in last year's first quarter, and our effective tax rate was 24% in the first quarter compared to 23% in last year's first quarter. Our earnings per diluted share for the quarter decreased to $3.98 per share from $4.78 per share last year. And our book value per share is now $112, a $17 per share increase from a year ago.

本季度，我們的 EBITDA 為 1.54 億美元，而去年第一季為 1.87 億美元；第一季我們的有效稅率為 24%，而去年第一季為 23%。本季每股攤薄收益從去年的每股 4.78 美元下降至每股 3.98 美元。我們的每股帳面價值現在為 112 美元，比一年前增加了 17 美元。

Now Derek Klutch will address our mortgage company results.

現在，德里克·克魯奇 (Derek Klutch) 將介紹我們的抵押貸款公司業績。

Thanks, Phil. Our mortgage and title operations achieved pre-tax income of $16.1 million, an increase of 31% from $12.3 million in 2024's first quarter. Revenue increased 17% from last year to a first-quarter record $31.5 million due to higher margins on loans sold and a higher average loan amount, partially offset by a slight decrease in loans originated. The average loan to value on our first mortgages for the quarter was 83% compared to 82% in 2024's first quarter.

謝謝，菲爾。我們的抵押貸款和產權業務實現了 1,610 萬美元的稅前收入，比 2024 年第一季的 1,230 萬美元成長了 31%。由於貸款銷售利潤率提高和平均貸款額增加，收入較去年同期增長 17%，達到第一季創紀錄的 3,150 萬美元，但部分被發放貸款數量的小幅下降所抵消。本季我們的首筆抵押貸款平均貸款成數為 83%，而 2024 年第一季為 82%。

We continue to see an increase in the use of government financing, as 57% of the loans closed in the quarter were conventional and 43% FHA or VA compared to 68% and 32%, respectively for 2024's first quarter. Our average mortgage amount increased to $406,000 in 2025's first quarter compared to $386,000 last year. Loans originated decreased to 1,530, which was down 2% from last year, while the volume of loans sold increased by 26%.

我們繼續看到政府融資的使用增加，因為本季結清的貸款中有 57% 為常規貸款，43% 為 FHA 或 VA 貸款，而 2024 年第一季這兩個數字分別為 68% 和 32%。2025 年第一季度，我們的平均抵押貸款金額從去年的 386,000 美元增加到 406,000 美元。發放貸款減少至 1,530 筆，較去年下降 2%，而貸款銷售量則增加 26%。

Our borrower profile remains solid with an average down payment of 17% and average credit score of 746 compared to 747 in 2024's first quarter. Finally, our mortgage operation captured 92% of our business in the first quarter, up from 88% last year.

我們的借款人狀況依然穩健，平均首付為 17%，平均信用評分為 746，而 2024 年第一季為 747。最後，我們的抵押貸款業務在第一季佔了我們業務的 92%，高於去年的 88%。

Now I'll turn the call back over to Phil.

現在我將把電話轉回給菲爾。

Thanks, Derek. So the balance sheet, we ended the first quarter with a cash balance of $776 million and no borrowings under our unsecured revolving credit facility. We continue to 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.

謝謝，德里克。因此，從資產負債表來看，第一季末我們的現金餘額為 7.76 億美元，且我們的無擔保循環信貸額度下沒有借款。我們的債務水平在上市房屋建築商中仍然處於最低水平，並且我們的債務到期情況良好。我們的銀行貸款將於2026年底到期，我們的公共債務將於2028年和2030年到期。

Our unsold land investment at March 31 is $1.7 billion compared to $1.4 billion a year ago. And in March 31, we had $866 million of raw land and land under development and $803 million of finished unsold lots. During the first quarter, we spent $146 million on land purchases and $102 million on land development for a total of $248 million.

截至 3 月 31 日，我們未售出的土地投資為 17 億美元，而去年同期為 14 億美元。截至 3 月 31 日，我們擁有價值 8.66 億美元的未開發土地和在建土地，以及價值 8.03 億美元的已完工未售出地塊。第一季度，我們花費 1.46 億美元用於土地購買，花費 1.02 億美元用於土地開發，總計 2.48 億美元。

At March 31, we own 25,000 lots and controlled 51,000 lots. At the end of the quarter, we had 700 completed inventory homes and 2,400 total inventory homes. And of the total inventory, 900 are in the Northern region, and 1,500 are in the Southern region. At March 31, 2024, we had 400 completed inventory homes and 1,900 total inventory homes. We spent $50 million in the first quarter repurchasing our stock and have $200 million remaining under our current board authorization. Since 2022, we have repurchased 13% of our outstanding shares. This completes our presentation.

截至 3 月 31 日，我們擁有 25,000 手，控制 51,000 手。截至本季末，我們已完成庫存房屋 700 套，庫存房屋總數為 2,400 套。總庫存中，北部地區有 900 輛，南部地區有 1,500 輛。截至 2024 年 3 月 31 日，我們擁有 400 套已完工庫存房屋，總庫存房屋數量為 1,900 套。我們在第一季花了 5,000 萬美元回購股票，根據目前的董事會授權，還剩餘 2 億美元。自 2022 年以來，我們已回購了 13% 的流通股。我們的演示到此結束。

We'll now open the call for any questions or comments.

我們現在開始回答任何問題或評論。

(Operator Instructions) Alan Ratner, Zelman & Associates.

（操作員指示）Alan Ratner，Zelman & Associates。

Nice job in a tricky environment out there. It seems like it's changing by the day. So I'm sure it's not easy. First question, Bob, I'd love to drill in a little bit in terms of what you're seeing, both from a geography standpoint and a price point perspective. Just curious like with all of the moving pieces going on, have you seen any notable shifts in buyer demand either within price points, Smart Series versus, say, move up or geography, any kind of relative winners and losers, given all of the noise today?

在如此棘手的環境中，我做得很好。看起來它每天都在改變。所以我確信這並不容易。第一個問題，鮑勃，我想從地理角度和價格角度深入探討您所看到的情況。只是很好奇，就像所有正在發生的事情一樣，考慮到今天的所有噪音，您是否看到買家需求在價格點、智能係列與升級或地理位置方面有任何顯著的變化，有任何相對的贏家和輸家嗎？

Well, great question. As it relates to price point, let me address that one first. Not really much of a change in demand. We have a number of very high-producing Smart Series communities throughout the company, which is our product line that primarily caters to the first-time buyer. It's roughly 54% of our sales were Smart Series sales and that's been about what it has been.

嗯，好問題。由於它與價格點有關，讓我先解決這個問題。需求其實並沒有太大的改變。我們公司擁有多個產量非常高的智慧系列社區，這是我們主要針對首次購屋者的產品線。我們的銷售額中大約有 54% 來自智慧系列銷售額，情況大致如此。

But we also have a lot of really strong move-up, second time, third-time purchased communities. I don't think there's any real conclusion to be drawn on that. If there was, that would be something that we would be all over. We look at that constantly. It's a great question.

但我們也有很多真正強勁的升級、第二次、第三次購買的社區。我認為對此無法得出任何真正的結論。如果有的話，那將是我們要全力以赴的事情。我們一直在關注這一點。這是一個很好的問題。

Geographically, I think there have been some noticeable differences, particularly during the latter part of last year, the Florida markets, and I would single out Tampa more so than Orlando or Sarasota. We're sort of just getting started in Fort Myers Naple, so we don't have enough critical mass to really draw a conclusion.

從地理位置上看，我認為存在一些明顯的差異，特別是在去年下半年，佛羅裡達州的市場，我認為坦帕比奧蘭多或薩拉索塔更明顯。我們剛剛在邁爾斯堡那不勒斯開始工作，因此我們還沒有足夠的臨界質量來得出結論。

But Tampa was clearly struggling more than the other Florida markets. It has rebounded somewhat in the last number of weeks. Some of that is just more aggressive promotions by us with price. But some of it, I think, is a return of buyers, a little bit better traffic. As we look around, Indianapolis has been quite strong, so is Cincinnati.

但坦帕顯然比佛羅裡達州的其他市場遭遇了更大的困境。過去幾週，該數字有所反彈。其中一些只是我們透過價格採取的更積極的促銷措施。但我認為，其中一部分是買家的回歸，客流量有所改善。放眼望去，印第安納波利斯表現相當強勁，辛辛那提也是如此。

Chicago has been a real bright spot for us as well. And Houston and Dallas continue to be good. Dallas is not quite as good as it was maybe three or four months ago, but we remain very bullish about both those Texas markets. I think that Austin has been and somewhat of a transition for all the builders there for about the last 1.5 years or so.

芝加哥對我們來說也是一個真正的亮點。休斯頓和達拉斯繼續表現良好。達拉斯可能不如三、四個月前那麼好，但我們仍然對這兩個德州市場非常看好。我認為，在過去的一年半左右的時間裡，奧斯汀對於那裡的所有建築商來說都是一種轉變。

And I think -- but long term, I think the Austin market is a tremendous market to be in. And then Columbus, I think our business has been very, very solid. Charlotte and Raleigh have held up quite well comparatively speaking. So Detroit a little bit softer. That's sort of the way I see it.

我認為——但從長遠來看，奧斯汀市場是一個巨大的市場。然後是哥倫布，我認為我們的業務非常非常穩固。相比之下，夏洛特和羅利的表現相當不錯。所以底特律稍微軟一點。我就是這麼看的。

I mean, I think that the situation within the overall economy, which, as you said, is changing daily, if not hourly, has certainly presented its share of challenges. Our new communities are off to -- not all, but most are off to a very strong start. And I think we -- I think some of our margin lift, very frankly, in the first quarter, sequential margin left which helped to offset what otherwise would have been a little bit of a margin decline -- more of a margin decline from a year ago. I think the margin lift was buoyed by the positive impact of a number of our new community openings, and we're excited about the new communities we're opening this year.

我的意思是，我認為整體經濟狀況正如你所說，每天都在變化，甚至每小時都在變化，這無疑帶來了挑戰。我們的新社區—雖然不是全部，但大多數都有了非常好的開始。我認為，坦白說，我們的利潤率在第一季有所提升，但環比利潤率有所下降，這有助於抵消原本可能出現的利潤率小幅下降——與去年同期相比，利潤率下降幅度更大。我認為利潤率的提升得益於我們開設的許多新社區的正面影響，我們對今年開設的新社區感到非常興奮。

I don't think the sky is falling. I don't think it's any time to panic, but it's just a little bit of a hold on time. The spring selling season, I think, has been just okay. March was better than January and February. I guess we're still in it.

我不認為天會塌下來。我認為現在還不是恐慌的時候，只是需要稍微等待時間。我認為春季銷售季還不錯。三月的情況比一月和二月好。我想我們仍處於其中。

April is not as good as March. But we'll -- look, it's no time to panic as I said, we're going to keep doing what we're doing. We think we can have a very solid year.

四月不如三月。但是我們會——看，現在還不是恐慌的時候，正如我所說，我們會繼續做我們正在做的事情。我們相信，我們將迎來非常穩健的一年。

Appreciate the very detailed rundown there. And definitely encouraging to hear Tampa showing some signs of life and the new community performance as well. Those are all good.

非常感謝那裡非常詳細的概述。聽到坦帕顯示出一些生機和新的社區表現，絕對令人鼓舞。這些都很好。

And I don't think Tampa is going anywhere anytime soon. By that, I mean it's a city that is still seen on average over the last four years, very respectable population growth it's likely to continue. In fact, if you look at population growth throughout most of our markets, many of them over the last four years have seen 4%, 5%, 6%, 8%, 10% population growth, which bodes well for household formations, which bodes really well for our industry.

我不認為坦帕會很快消失。我的意思是，這座城市在過去四年中的平均人口成長速度仍然非常可觀，而且這種趨勢很可能會持續下去。事實上，如果你觀察我們大多數市場的人口成長情況，你會發現過去四年裡，許多市場的人口成長率分別為 4%、5%、6%、8% 和 10%，這對家庭組成來說是個好兆頭，對我們的產業來說也確實是個好兆頭。

We'll get through this period of time, but I wouldn't want to be in any other business.

我們會度過這段時間，但我不想從事任何其他業務。

Got you. Appreciate that. Second question on kind of the spec strategy. I mean, you and others obviously have pivoted pretty hard towards spec over the last several years. I think you said it was about 65% of your sales this quarter.

明白了。非常感謝。第二個問題是關於規格策略的。我的意思是，在過去的幾年裡，你和其他人顯然已經非常努力地轉向規格。我想您說過這大約佔您本季銷售額的 65%。

We've heard from some other builders that seem to be dialing back spec starts a bit here over the last few months given the choppiness in activity, and others have kind of signaled trying to maybe bring down that spec share a little bit closer to longer term averages. I'm curious, A, what are you seeing in terms of the spec margin differential? I know you've actually seen some pretty healthy margins on your spec product. But have you also dialed back those starts more recently?

我們從其他一些建築商那裡聽說，由於活動不穩定，過去幾個月似乎正在稍微減少規格開工，而其他一些建築商則表示可能試圖將規格份額降低到更接近長期平均水平。我很好奇，A，您從規格保證金差異方面看到了什麼？我知道您實際上已經看到了規格產品的相當可觀的利潤率。但最近你有沒有減少這些開始呢？

Well, first, let's put it in perspective. This is an area where I think -- and you know it probably better than me. But this is an area where there's a distinct difference in strategies across the various public builders with some over the last few years, going to a 100% spec approach towards the business. We increased significantly five years, we were probably 20%, 30%, maybe 40% spec.

好吧，首先，讓我們客觀地看待這個問題。我認為這是一個領域——而且你可能比我更了解它。但在這一領域，各個公共建築商的策略存在明顯差異，有些建築商在過去幾年中採取了 100% 規範的業務方式。五年來，我們的成長幅度顯著，大概是 20%、30%，甚至 40%。

Now we're somewhere between 50% and 65% spec. We sort of like the balance. In general, specs have sold at lower margins. And during some periods, it has been 100 basis points, During others, it has been 200 basis points.

現在我們的規格介於 50% 到 65% 之間。我們有點喜歡這種平衡。整體而言，規格的銷售利潤率較低。在某些時期，這數字達到 100 個基點；在其他時期，這數字達到 200 個基點。

I think that the average in our company is probably today around 150 to 200 basis points. Some markets may be a little higher than that. But we've been able to keep the gap between the two pretty close, not out of stubbornness, that's just where the buyers seem to be. But there is a slightly lower margin on specs in most of our markets.

我認為我們公司目前的平均水平大概在 150 到 200 個基點左右。有些市場可能會略高於這個水準。但我們能夠將兩者之間的差距保持在相當小的範圍內，這並不是出於固執，這只是買家的態度。但在我們的大多數市場中，規格的利潤率略低。

Also, Alan, it's just kind of a subdivision by subdivision issue. Product matters quite a bit. Today, we're doing 15%, 20% attached townhouses, and attached townhouses tends to happen when you sell a unit or two in the building, you start another building, et cetera. Also, our Smart Series, our more affordable product line, in general, we have a few more specs.

此外，艾倫，這只是一個細分問題。產品很重要。今天，我們正在建造 15%、20% 的聯排別墅，而聯排別墅往往發生在您出售建築物中的一兩個單元，然後開始建造另一棟建築物等。此外，我們的智慧系列，也就是我們更實惠的產品線，一般來說，我們有更多的規格。

If you look right now with us having about three finished specs per community, we feel very good with that. Also with the rate buydown, it's pretty costly when you start getting outside of 45- to 60-day window to be buying down those rates. So again, we manage that on a subdivision-by-subdivision basis for sure.

如果您現在看到我們每個社區大約有三個完成的規範，我們對此感到非常滿意。此外，對於利率買斷來說，當你開始在 45 到 60 天的窗口期之外買斷利率時，成本會相當高。因此，我們肯定會根據各個細分部門的具體情況進行管理。

(Operator Instructions) Kenneth Zener, Seaport.

（操作員指示）肯尼斯·澤納，海港。

I am interested on how you're thinking about your order pace, which it's a fall seasonality, it suggest pace kind of maybe down a little bit if you look at the three and longer-term averages. But more importantly, how are you thinking about your units under construction and how starts are going to be related to pace as you kind of map out where expectations might be for your units under construction by the end of the year? I'm just -- if you're building spec, you might want to build more spec, right, even if orders aren't there because it will drive the closings. But could you talk a little bit about how you're thinking about that?

我感興趣的是您對訂單速度的看法，這是秋季的季節性，如果您查看三個長期平均值，則表示速度可能會略有下降。但更重要的是，您如何看待在建單位，以及在規劃年底在建單位的預期目標時，開工率與進度有何關係？我只是——如果你正在建立規格，你可能想要建立更多的規格，對的，即使沒有訂單，因為它會推動收盤。但您能否稍微談談您對此的看法？

Well, if you look at us today, we do have a few more communities than a year ago. And as we talked about, we planned this year on having on average about 5% more. we talked about in my remarks that houses in the field today are like 4,800 versus 4,500. So we are continuing to be careful with what we put in the field However, as Bob said, we're trying to manage very carefully on a subdivision basis.

嗯，如果你看看我們今天的情況，我們確實比一年前多了幾個社區。正如我們所討論的，我們計劃今年平均增加約 5%。我們在演講中提到，今天該領域的房屋數量是 4,800 棟，而不是 4,500 棟。因此，我們將繼續謹慎對待我們在該領域投入的內容，然而，正如鮑勃所說，我們正試圖在細分基礎上非常謹慎地進行管理。

It takes a long time to get locations under control developed and opened. So we're trying to balance that good margin, good return versus pace. So it's just something that we manage on a subdivision basis constantly. We would like to do a little more volume than we're doing. Last year, we did over 9,000 houses.

控制地點的開發和開放需要很長時間。因此，我們試圖在良好的利潤、良好的回報和速度之間取得平衡。所以這只是我們不斷以細分方式管理的事情。我們希望做得比現在多一點。去年，我們建造了9000多棟房屋。

Our volume in the first quarter was down a little bit -- but again, we're being mindful not to get too far ahead of things in the market. But again, where we are now with having a few more communities and a few more houses in the field, we feel like we're in pretty good shape.

我們第一季的銷量略有下降——但我們再次注意不要領先市場太多。但是，現在我們在田野裡又多了幾個社區和幾棟房屋，我們感覺我們的狀況相當不錯。

Right. And I wonder, buy-downs, which had been done in the '60s and '70s by builders, went away. And I've always been kind of curious as to why that happened. You hear some builders talking more about price reduction versus mortgage buydowns. Can you comment on how those buy-downs might directionally break apart or be different within your conventional loan structures, where there's more down payment versus the FHA VHA, which is a lower down payment?

正確的。我很好奇，20 世紀 60 年代和 70 年代建築商進行的買斷行為已經消失了。我一直很好奇為什麼會發生這樣的事。您會聽到一些建築商談論降價而不是抵押貸款買斷更多。您能否評論一下這些買斷計劃在傳統貸款結構中如何定向分解或有所不同？在傳統貸款結構中，首付金額較高，而 FHA VHA 的首付金額較低？

Are you seeing more of that efficacy in the lower down payment loans?

您是否看到了較低首付貸款的更多功效？

I guess, the first thing I would say is that, again, we manage that not only on a community basis but a customer basis. Customers more in the entry-level price point, a number of those customers may need more help in closing costs, being stressed a little bit for out of pocket, those types of things. Again, buyers are different.

我想，我要說的第一件事是，我們不僅以社群為基礎進行管理，而且在客戶基礎上進行管理。入門價位的客戶較多，其中許多客戶可能需要更多幫助來支付成交費用，在自付費用方面會感到有點壓力，諸如此類的事情。再次，買家是不同的。

I don't know, Derek, Bob, do you want to?

我不知道，德瑞克，鮑勃，你們想嗎？

Well, a couple of things on it. First of all, mortgage rate buydowns today, I can't come up with a better or more effective tool given the rate environment and all the other issues and all the noise that we've been all talking about. I can't think of a better way to drive traffic and hopefully promote sales. Pure price reductions have a massive impact on backlog where people bought at a certain price. If you lower the price today, you're going to be retrading the entire backlog or at least big portions of it. So the great thing that the mortgage rate buydowns do is they protect the integrity of your sales backlog. That's number one.

嗯，有幾件事。首先，對於今天的抵押貸款利率下調，考慮到利率環境以及我們一直在談論的所有其他問題和噪音，我無法想出更好或更有效的工具。我想不出更好的方法來吸引流量並促進銷售。單純的降價對人們以特定價格購買的積壓產品有巨大的影響。如果您今天降低價格，您將重新交易全部積壓訂單或至少其中的大部分。因此，抵押貸款利率買斷的一大好處是，它能夠保護您的銷售積壓訂單的完整性。這是第一點。

Number two, in terms of what we're offering, our government rate is -- the buydown rate is lower than the conventional rate. Today, on our FHA and government packages, we're generally on a 30-year fixed rate basis around 4 and 7/8, whereas with conventional, we're right around 5 and 7/8. When and if this goes away is I think when mortgage rates, either the spread over to the tenure which brings down rates or rates themselves come down, notwithstanding the spread somewhere in the 6% or so range, there's -- and then demand starts to come back.

第二，就我們提供的服務而言，我們的政府利率—買斷利率低於傳統利率。今天，對於我們的聯邦住房管理局和政府一攬子計劃，我們一般採用 30 年期固定利率，約為 4 和 7/8，而對於傳統計劃，我們的利率約為 5 和 7/8。如果這種情況消失，我認為當抵押貸款利率，無論是期限利差降低利率還是利率本身下降時，儘管利差在 6% 左右的範圍內，但需求就會開始回升。

I don't think we have to get back to 3% and 4%, 30-year fixed rate mortgages to get rid of rate buydowns. But that's something that no one knows for sure. As rates do drop, the cost of buydowns drops as well. But right now, it's -- let's call it for what it is, Ken, it's propping up the homebuilding industry, If you took away rate buydowns from every major builder in the country, I'm not sure where we'd be, but we wouldn't be where we are.

我認為我們不必回到 3% 和 4% 的 30 年期固定利率抵押貸款來擺脫利率下調。但沒有人確切知道這一點。隨著利率下降，買斷成本也會下降。但是現在，肯，讓我們直說吧，它正在支撐住宅建築業，如果你取消對全國所有主要建築商的利率收購，我不知道我們會在哪裡，但我們不會是現在這個樣子。

And it's also a tremendous competitive advantage for the larger builders like us who have -- who own their own mortgage company and are able to nimbly almost on a daily basis, react to what's happening. And we've tried to do that as best as we can.

對於像我們這樣的大型建築商來說，這也是一個巨大的競爭優勢，我們擁有自己的抵押貸款公司，並且能夠幾乎每天靈活地對正在發生的事情做出反應。我們已經盡力做到這一點。

I mean, primarily, we're in the payment business. And what's most important to the majority of the people is what's that monthly payment. And again, there's a different result based on a price reduction, which also can impact appraisal values of homes and those types of things, which Bob talked about. But again, the rate buydown, it depends what the customer really needs.

我的意思是，我們主要從事支付業務。對大多數人來說最重要的是每月還款額是多少。再次，降價會產生不同的結果，這也會影響房屋的評估價值以及鮑勃談到的那些事情。但再次強調，利率降低取決於客戶的真正需求。

We try to be as efficient as possible. Our mortgage company helps us a lot deal with individual customers. Customers need different things, and we try to make that available to them at the most efficient cost we can.

我們盡力提高效率。我們的抵押貸款公司在處理個人客戶事務方面給予了我們很大的幫助。客戶需要不同的東西，我們盡力以最有效的成本提供這些東西給他們。

Buck Horne, Raymond James

巴克霍恩、雷蒙詹姆斯

Thinking through the kind of impact potentially as the quarters progress for the remainder of the year and how you're thinking through things like lot cost inflation is it's going to roll through the income statement and also your stick and brick costs factoring in the potential tariff impacts. I'm wondering if you guys have thought through that in terms of the supply chain -- and kind of what kind of cost trend?

思考今年剩餘時間各季度可能產生的影響，以及您如何考慮諸如地塊成本通膨等因素，這些因素將會影響到損益表，同時還將您的木棍和磚塊成本計入潛在的關稅影響。我想知道你們是否從供應鏈的角度考慮過這個問題——以及什麼樣的成本趨勢？

Yeah. I'll give a little initial answer, and then I think Phil has a lot more detail than perhaps I do on that. Just on sticks and bricks, right now, there has really been no impact. Our costs are essentially what they were a year ago.

是的。我會給出一點初步的答案，然後我認為菲爾對此的解釋可能比我更詳細。僅就木棍和磚塊而言，目前確實沒有產生任何影響。我們的成本與一年前基本相同。

In some instances, they're slightly lower, which has probably helped some of the sequential movement on the margins. And despite all the noise, which crescendos and then decrescendos, I can use the music terms, on tariffs, we haven't seen any impact yet. Will there be impact? Probably, but right now, I don't think that our industry has yet felt it other than it's probably having some effect on consumer confidence in some indirect way.

在某些情況下，它們會略低一些，這可能有助於邊緣的一些連續移動。儘管關稅問題上存在各種噪音，時強時弱，我可以用音樂術語來說，但我們還沒有看到任何影響。會有影響嗎？有可能，但目前，我認為我們的行業還沒有感受到它，除了它可能以某種間接的方式對消費者信心產生一些影響。

My guess is if we do see an effect, it won't show until somewhere late in the year. When -- if those costs do go up by virtue of tariffs, they're reflected in our fourth-quarter closings.

我的猜測是，如果我們確實看到了效果，那麼它也要到今年晚些時候才會顯現出來。如果這些成本確實因關稅而上漲，那麼它們就會反映在我們第四季的收盤價中。

Beyond that, Phil, if you want to add anything?

除此之外，菲爾，您還有什麼要補充的嗎？

No, we think our national account people and our purchasing teams have done a really good job. We've been working on a number of programs the last couple of quarters. And as Bob said, our sticks in bricks in the first quarter were actually a little less. So we were pleased with that. We're obviously trying to make sure that we're not single-sourced anywhere. We have seen a little more availability of substance suppliers, but really, that's about it.

不，我們認為我們的國家客戶人員和採購團隊做得非常好。過去幾個季度我們一直在進行一些專案。正如鮑伯所說，我們第一季的磚塊數量實際上要少一些。所以我們對此感到很高興。我們顯然正在努力確保我們的產品來源不單一。我們看到物質供應商的供應量略有增加，但事實上僅此而已。

We're just trying to stay on top of everything best we can, try to focus on affordability best we can with targeted product to make sure we have the specifications right in our product line because lot costs are continuing to go up. But overall, we feel pretty good about where we are.

我們只是盡力掌握一切，盡力專注於有針對性的產品的可負擔性，以確保我們的產品線具有正確的規格，因為批量成本正在持續上漲。但整體而言，我們對目前的狀況感到十分滿意。

And just to talk about lot cost for a second because that's an area that has a massive impact on affordability and the end price of a home, there's no component, as you know, that impacts the end price more than land and land development. I don't think anyone should count on much movement on land prices in any of the markets in which we do business.

讓我們來談談地塊成本，因為這是對房屋負擔能力和最終價格有巨大影響的領域，正如你所知，沒有任何因素比土地和土地開發對最終價格的影響更大。我認為任何人都不應該指望我們開展業務的任何市場的土地價格會太大波動。

First of all, like many of our competitors, we're relentlessly focused on securing what we call premier locations. We're not the only one. There's a lot of -- even if we're more careful about what we buy because we want to make sure it pencils, we haven't really seen much movement on the price side. Maybe better terms, by that, I mean, maybe able to push off closing or buy more time, buy more time given the fact that in some markets, it's taking longer to get things owned, it's taking longer to get approvals, a seller understands that.

首先，與我們的許多競爭對手一樣，我們堅持不懈地專注於確保所謂的黃金地段。我們並不是唯一一個。有很多——即使我們對購買的東西更加謹慎，因為我們想確保它能用好，但我們並沒有真正看到價格方面有太大的變化。也許是更好的條款，我的意思是，也許能夠推遲成交或爭取更多時間，爭取更多時間，因為在某些市場，獲得所有權需要更長的時間，獲得批准需要更長的時間，賣家明白這一點。

They know we're not going to close on unzoned ground. That's just not what we do. And most of our competitors don't either. So other than the term side, there really hasn't -- we haven't seen much nor do I think we will see much on the price side. I don't think there's the old line, they're not making any more of it.

他們知道我們不會在未劃分區域的土地上關閉。這不是我們所做的。我們的大多數競爭對手也是如此。因此，除了期限方面之外，我們真的沒有看到太多變化，我也不認為在價格方面我們會見到太多變化。我不認為有舊生產線了，他們不會再生產它了。

The land is what it is, and the strong locations, I think, are going to continue to command top dollar prices. And if you want to play the game, you're going to have to do that. And that's -- and we're prepared to. Our balance sheet has never been stronger. We've got a great land position. We own less than a three-year supply. We've always been very disciplined on that.

土地就是這樣，我認為，地理位置優越的房產將繼續獲得最高的價格。如果你想玩這個遊戲，你就必須這麼做。這就是──我們已經做好準備了。我們的資產負債表從未如此強勁。我們擁有優越的土地地位。我們的供應量不到三年。我們對此一直非常嚴謹。

Our strategy with respect to owned and controlled really hasn't changed. We're not big on using land bankers. We don't feel like we need to, and we don't want to pay -- I use the T word, we don't want to pay a tariff to land bankers when we don't have to. And we feel really good about our land strategy, but that part of the component of the end price, I don't see much change on that anytime in the foreseeable future.

我們的自有和控制策略其實沒有改變。我們不太熱衷於使用土地銀行家。我們覺得我們不需要，我們也不想支付——我用的是「T」這個詞，我們不想在沒有必要的時候向土地銀行家支付關稅。我們對我們的土地策略感到非常滿意，但我認為在可預見的未來，最終價格的這一部分不會發生太大變化。

Very helpful. I appreciate all those detailed thoughts. Just want to shift, you mentioned the balance sheet, of course, never being in a stronger position than it is right now. Your shares are now below book value. It looks -- sounds like you're potentially dialing back the start pace for the remainder of the year.

非常有幫助。我很欣賞這些詳細的想法。只是想轉變一下，你提到了資產負債表，當然，它從來沒有比現在處於更強勁的地位。您的股票現在低於帳面價值。看起來——聽起來你可能會放慢今年剩餘時間的起步速度。

You have remained very consistent with the cadence of repurchase activity, but just wondering if you would consider leaning in to current marketing conditions and accelerating the pace of repurchases.

您一直保持著與回購活動節奏非常一致，但我只是想了解您是否會考慮順應當前的行銷條件並加快回購的步伐。

It's something we always look at. We talk about it every quarter with our Board. We've tried to maintain consistency. We're not trying to game the time in which we purchase. We think a consistent approach is the most sound one. In all likelihood, what we have been doing, we'll continue to do.

這是我們一直在關注的事情。我們每季都會與董事會討論此事。我們一直努力保持一致性。我們並不是想玩購買的時間。我們認為一致的方法是最合理的。很有可能，我們將繼續做我們一直在做的事情。

Phil, I don't know if you have anything to add.

菲爾，我不知道您是否還有什麼要補充。

Yeah, yeah, Buck. I mean, like Bob said, we've had a consistent strategy the last few quarters buying $50 million. And we think now is a good time to have lower leverage and bank line availability and those type of things. Our interest in curve, one of the lowest in the business, and we like that position. Something we'll continue to look at. But again, we're just trying to be very mindful to make sure we're positioned very good.

是的，是的，巴克。我的意思是，就像鮑伯說的，過去幾個季度我們一直有一個一致的策略，那就是購買 5000 萬美元。我們認為現在是降低槓桿率和銀行信用額度等的好時機。我們對曲線的興趣是業內最低的興趣之一，我們喜歡這個位置。我們將繼續關注此事。但再次強調，我們只是盡力保持警惕，以確保我們處於非常有利的位置。

We've always run a conservative company, and that has kind of kept us where we are and so forth, but something we'll continue to look at, but we feel really good about where we are.

我們一直經營著一家保守的公司，這在某種程度上使我們保持現狀，但我們會繼續關註一些事情，但我們對目前的狀況感到非常滿意。

Jay McCandless, Wedbush.

傑伊麥坎德利斯，韋德布希。

First question I had, where do you think the gross margin backlog is right now relative to what you saw in the first quarter and maybe directionally how that has been trending so far in the second quarter?

我的第一個問題是，您認為目前的毛利率積壓情況與第一季相比如何，以及第二季迄今的趨勢如何？

Jay, that's a -- it's a pretty flat number. But again, as I said, about 35% of our closings during the quarter came from spec sales that sold and closed in the quarter. So Bob talked about the continued pressure on margins. We're doing all we can to keep those margins as high as we can. But we were pleased with the 25.9% in the first quarter, but we think there will be continued margin pressures as we go through the year.

傑伊，這是一個——相當平穩的數字。但正如我所說，本季約有 35% 的成交量來自本季售出並成交的投機銷售。因此鮑伯談到了利潤率持續面臨的壓力。我們正在盡一切努力保持盡可能高的利潤率。但我們對第一季的 25.9% 的利潤率感到滿意，但我們認為全年利潤率仍將面臨壓力。

And then the exit velocity from January to March, it looks like orders continue to -- the order comp continue to get better. For all of 2Q, you guys have an easier comp to last year. I guess, what are you seeing right now out in the field, whether it's from resale competition or other headwinds that can make the rest of the quarter maybe trend a little bit lower than what you saw in March?

然後從一月到三月的出口速度來看，訂單似乎繼續 - 訂單補償繼續變得更好。就整個第二季而言，與去年同期相比，你們的業績表現更為出色。我想，您現在在這個領域看到了什麼，無論是來自轉售競爭還是其他不利因素，都可能導致本季剩餘時間的趨勢比 3 月略低？

Well, if I knew what sales were going to be like next week, I would tell you. There has been so much -- we're all sick of the word uncertainty, but there has been so much uncertainty and so much volatility just within the economy in general, but that has translated itself to demand as well week to week. Some weeks, we see a big uptick in traffic, and the next week, it comes down.

好吧，如果我知道下週的銷售情況如何，我會告訴你。我們已經厭倦了「不確定性」這個詞，但總體而言，經濟中存在著如此多的不確定性和如此大的波動性，但這也轉化為每週的需求。有時候，我們會看到流量大幅上升，而下一周，流量又下降了。

There has been very little consistency. It has been highly unpredictable. I actually thought our margins would be lower than they are. They've held up better than expected. It's not because -- what's the term that I heard use the other day, we're not trying to be margin proud. I like that line.

一致性很低。這是非常難以預測的。我實際上以為我們的利潤率會比現在低。他們的表現比預期的要好。這並不是因為——我前幾天聽過一個說法，我們並不想為利潤感到自豪。我喜歡那句話。

We think we're balancing our margins with what it takes to get our sales to where they need to be. We know nothing good happens unless you sell something, and we're pushing to sell as much as we can.

我們認為我們正在平衡利潤率和使銷售額達到所需水平所需的成本。我們知道，除非您賣出東西，否則不會有任何好事發生，因此我們正在努力盡可能多地銷售東西。

But right now, I think the second quarter is -- if I had to guess, I think it's going to be up and down uneven and mostly on the challenging side. But I don't know. I'm hoping that we'll be pleasantly surprised. The sky is not falling, and I said that earlier. And I think if the stocks are trading at ridiculously low values, suggesting almost that this is like trending towards some kind of recession or great recession, which I think is -- I just don't subscribe to that at all.

但現在，我認為第二季度——如果我不得不猜測的話，我認為它將起伏不定，而且大多充滿挑戰。但我不知道。我希望我們能感到驚喜。天不會塌下來，我之前就說過了。我認為，如果股票交易價格低得可笑，這幾乎表明經濟正走向某種衰退或大衰退，我認為——我完全不認同這種觀點。

And bringing 15% to the bottom line and a near 20% return on equity. The first quarter was one of the best first quarters in company history. It wasn't as good as a year ago. I get that. We're poised to have a very strong year and at least a very solid year compared to last year, likely down unless something significant were to change, that's no surprise.

並帶來 15% 的底線利潤和近 20% 的股本回報率。第一季是公司歷史上最好的第一季之一。情況不如一年前那麼好。我明白。我們有望迎來非常強勁的一年，至少與去年相比是非常穩固的一年，除非發生重大變化，否則業績可能會下降，這並不奇怪。

But I think we're very well positioned. I think many of our peers are very well positioned.

但我認為我們處於非常有利的位置。我認為我們的許多同行都處於非常有利的地位。

I don't think we see anything crazy happening out there with builder behavior, including us. So I just think it's very, very hard to forecast and give that kind of guidance. If you do, you're going to end up we've never led the league and guidance anyway as we're often reminded and we're not -- we're certainly not going to start now. So that's a hard one, Jay. I respect the question completely.

我認為我們並沒有看到包括我們在內的建築商發生任何瘋狂的行為。所以我認為預測和給予這種指導是非常非常困難的。如果你這樣做，你最終會發現自己從來沒有領導過聯盟，也沒有得到指導，正如我們經常被提醒的那樣，我們不會——我們現在肯定不會開始。所以這個問題很難回答，傑伊。我完全尊重這個問題。

I don't mean to be less than honest about it, but I just don't know.

我並不是想對此不誠實，但我確實不知道。

Jay, I mean you're right. I mean if you look at the second quarter of last year, our sales were actually up 3%. But I mean we were surprised, January and February sales were weaker than we thought March was better. And we're not sure exactly why, again, it's just something we watch every week community-by-community we did open 27 stores the first quarter, and we're going to be opening a lot of stores as the year goes on, but it's still just very choppy out there.

傑伊，我的意思是你是對的。我的意思是，如果你看看去年第二季度，我們的銷售額實際上成長了 3%。但我的意思是，我們感到驚訝的是，一月和二月的銷售額比我們想像的三月還要差。我們不確定具體原因，這只是我們每週觀察的一個社區的情況，我們在第一季度開設了 27 家商店，隨著時間的推移，我們還會開設很多商店，但那裡的情況仍然非常不穩定。

Okay. And then, Phil, could you give me the total spec numbers at the end of the quarter and where they were last year, I didn't catch those numbers?

好的。然後，菲爾，你能告訴我本季末的總規格數字以及去年的數字嗎，我沒有記下這些數字？

The spec numbers?

規格數字？

Yeah, the spec numbers.

是的，規格數字。

Yeah, if you look at the end of the quarter, we had 700 completed specs. A year ago, we had 400. And as far as total specs, now we have 2,400, and a year ago, we had 1,900. We feel really good where we are basically having about three completed specs per community.

是的，如果你看季度末，你會發現我們有 700 個已完成的規格。一年前，我們有 400 人。就整體規格而言，現在我們有 2,400 個，而一年前我們有 1,900 個。我們感覺非常好，因為每個社區基本上都有大約三個完整的規範。

Our community count is up, too.

我們的社區數量也增加了。

Our community count is up. And then we talked about it being up on average about 5%, and it should move up as the year goes on. So we feel good about where we are managing that very carefully. There is, most of the time, a little bit of margin leap between specs and to be built. But again, we try to be very careful how we price and sell those specs also.

我們的社區數量已上升。然後我們談到它平均上漲約 5%，並且隨著時間的推移它應該會繼續上漲。因此，我們對自己非常謹慎的管理感到滿意。大多數時候，規格和實際建造之間存在一點差距。但同樣，我們也試圖非常謹慎地定價和銷售這些規格。

Got it. And then the last question for me, just pricing power, what percentage of communities were able to raise price this quarter?

知道了。對我來說最後一個問題是定價權，本季有多少比例的社區能夠提高價格？

It's a good question. That's just a really difficult question. We've been pleased with the ASP and the margin and the pace of the new communities we've opened in the last couple of quarters. In general, they're performing a little better than we thought. I mean, we raised prices where we can, but -- and we feel really good, especially about our new communities.

這是個好問題。這確實是一個很難的問題。我們對過去幾季開設的新社區的平均售價、利潤率和速度感到滿意。整體而言，他們的表現比我們想像的要好一些。我的意思是，我們盡可能地提高了價格，但是——我們感覺真的很好，尤其是對我們的新社區。

That's just a really tough question. But when you look at our margins at 25.9%, again, we're pretty pleased with that.

這確實是一個很難的問題。但當你看到我們的利潤率達到 25.9% 時，我們對此感到非常滿意。

One of the -- I know some builders report that information where that gets very confusing is when you open up new phases in an existing community and you always intended the new phase to be at a slightly higher price because the lot cost is slightly higher. Is that pricing power? Do you call that pricing power? You're trying to hold the margins the same.

其中之一——我知道一些建築商報告說，當你在現有社區中開闢新階段時，資訊變得非常令人困惑，你總是希望新階段的價格略高一些，因為地段成本略高一些。這就是定價權嗎？你把這叫做定價權嗎？您正在嘗試保持邊距不變。

I'd say where there's true pricing power is probably less than 10% of our communities if I had to put a number on it. Right now in this environment, there's very little pricing power.

如果必須給出一個數字的話，我想說真正擁有定價權的社區可能不到我們社區的 10%。目前在這種環境下，定價權非常小。

We have no further questions. I will turn the call back over to Mr. Phil Creek for closing comments.

我們沒有其他問題了。我將把電話轉回給 Phil Creek 先生，請他發表最後評論。

Thank you for joining us. Look forward to talking to you next quarter.

感謝您加入我們。期待下個季度與您交談。

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes your conference call for today. We thank you for participating, and we ask that you please disconnect your lines.

女士們、先生們，今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與，請您斷開線路。