Even as new U.S. home sales plunged to a record low in February, home builder Lennar Corp. posted an unexpected profit for the three months that ended Feb. 28 thanks to cost-cutting measures and investments in distressed real estate assets, the Miami-based company said this morning. Lennar’s net income for the first quarter of $27.4 million, or 14 cents per share, well above analysts’ predictions of a loss of 7 cents per share. Analysts told Bloomberg News that the boost came largely from its Rialto Capital subsidiary, which was launched in 2007 to focus on distressed properties and loan workouts and was responsible for $11 million in operating income during the first quarter. [more]

L+M Development Partners’ new affordable
housing complex in Brownsville will celebrate its opening with a ribbon cutting today. Also, Coldwell
Banker Real Estate launched an interactive billboard in Times Square
that displays home listings. And at the Rialto condo in Williamsburg, buyers now only have to
put 10 percent down. Click here for the full version. TRD [more]