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Robert Toll, chairman of luxury home builder Toll Brothers, has proof that demand has rebounded in the national housing market. Appearing on Bloomberg TV’s “Street Smart” (click here for video), Toll said that fewer people are backing away from deposits on new houses. “The drop in deposit rate is about 3 or 4 percent, which is very low,” he said, “it appears as though we’re on a comeback trail.” That’s a stark contrast from the 5.7 percent rate Toll Brothers reported for the quarter ending Jan. 31, and 6.7 percent from the year prior. [more]

Luxury home builder Toll Brothers has formed a distressed real estate
investment group, according to Bloomberg news. Toll, the largest luxury
builder in the U.S., will use the new group, Gibraltar Capital and
Asset Management, to “pursue a broad range of real estate acquisition
and investment opportunities,” the company said. The company announced
the new venture today. Among the unit’s services will be the
acquisition of distressed loan and property portfolios, as well as
assisting developers in the workout of troubled real estate. [Bloomberg]

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Yesterday’s report of a narrower quarterly loss for luxury home builder Toll Brothers has company Chairman Bob Toll optimistic that things are looking up for new home sales. In this MSNBC video, Toll, who recently stepped down as CEO, comments on the new figures. “Our second quarter was up 86 percent over last year,” Toll said. “We’re still running at half-speed… but we’re definitely no longer looking for light at the end of the tunnel — we’re out of the tunnel.”

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Bob Toll (l), Doug Yearley

Leading U.S. luxury home builder Toll Brothers reported a $40.4 million second-quarter loss today, representing a $0.24 loss per share. The report marks a narrower loss for Toll than seen in previous quarters — the company reported an $83.2 million loss in the same quarter a year earlier and a $40.8 million loss last quarter. While Toll isn’t necessarily on the upswing, newly-appointed CEO Doug Yearley said that there is reason to believe the company is stabilizing. “With demand increasing in many areas, we are very focused on growth,” Yearley said. “We believe we are well-positioned for future growth.” The quarterly fiscal report comes just days after 43-year CEO Robert Toll announced he was stepping down from the post, while staying on as chairman. TRD

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Effective June 16, Robert Toll will be stepping down as CEO of Toll Brothers. He will remain active as executive chairman of the board of directors, the company announced today. Toll has been in his post since the company’s founding in 1967. Douglas Yearley, a company executive vice president and 20-year company veteran, will become the new CEO. Toll Brothers, a public company, is a leading national builder of luxury homes. The company serves move-up, empty-nester, active-adult and second-home homebuyers in 20 states including Florida, New Jersey and New York. “[Yearly] has run numerous home building and support divisions, spearheaded the firm’s geographic expansion and entry into the urban high-rise market, and overseen major land and builder acquisitions, distressed asset purchases and numerous other corporate and home building functions,” Toll said. “He is well-known to the investment community.” Toll Brothers’ recent projects include a 67-unit Brooklyn condo at 207 Water Street and Ocean’s Edge at Singer Island in South Florida. TRD

Luxury homebuilder Toll Brothers’ most recent securities filing hints at a bit of modesty in response to the housing market’s woes. While CEO Robert Toll “performed exceedingly well during fiscal 2009,” his salary was slashed 11 percent and he didn’t get a bonus “due to overall economic conditions, both in our industry and the country as a whole,” the company’s compensation committee said. Salaries remained flat for Toll COO Zvi Barzilay and CFO Joel Rassman, each taking in $1 million in salary pay, plus bonuses of over $1 million. Even with the pay cut, Robert Toll reaped in $1.17 million for the year, down from $1.3 million in both 2007 and 2008. While Toll received less in the way of option awards this year, he got $1.34 million in stock. He now owns 11.22 percent of his company’s common stock, which bodes well for his personal finances because Toll Brothers shares rose almost 9 percent over the past year.

Although a dismal third-quarter report showed home building giant Toll Brothers losing more than $111 million, Robert Toll, chairman and CEO of Toll Brothers, told CNBC that he expects better results for 2010. “I don’t think future foreclosures will exceed the number of foreclosures we’ve already seen,” he said. “People are looking to take advantage of foreclosures and I am planning on using the $1.9 billion that we have saved in our treasury for purchasing distressed properties.” He also cited high affordability and low interest rates as factors that will create good buying opportunities in the coming months. However, he said it will be hard to predict the market until the first or second week in January, when the holiday season is over and people start looking to buy again. [more]

Homebuilders began construction on new homes in October at the fastest pace in 11 months, according to a median forecast of 77 economists, as reported in a Bloomberg news survey. The housing starts jumped to an annual rate of 600,000, the forecast said, marking a 1.7 percent increase. Reduced home prices, coupled with federal tax incentives and reduced borrowing costs, were cited as key reasons for the expected industry turnaround. While some experts say that a tenuous job market could derail progress, the industry consensus is that the Commerce Department’s housing report, due later this morning, will yield good news. For his part, Toll Brothers CEO Robert Toll said he’s optimistic about the industry’s progress. “The new home market is improving,” Toll said. “We sense that it is, though slowly and through choppy waters.”

A larger-than-expected fourth-quarter surge in signed contracts at Toll Brothers may signal a comeback for the beleaguered luxury building market.

Following the release of the company’s preliminary fiscal 2009 fourth-quarter results, Robert Toll, chairman and CEO at Toll Brothers, said in a conference call today that he believes the housing market recovery is in the same place now as it was in May or June of 1991.

The Horsham, Penn.-based luxury homebuilder saw a 42 percent rise in signed contracts year-over-year, to 765 units in the fourth quarter ending Oct. 31, Toll said. While 2008 was a particularly rough year for homebuilders, the fourth-quarter number also represents a 17 percent improvement over the same period in 2007, prior to the Lehman Brothers crash. The cancellation rate — 6.9 percent — returned to its pre-downturn average.

Shares of Toll Brothers rose 16 percent to $21.30 this morning as Wall Street reacted to the results, which were released late yesterday. [more]

Robert Toll, chairman and CEO of Toll Brothers, has earned about $50
million this year from sales of Toll Brothers stock, profiting from a
recent rise in the company’s share price. Toll has sold 2.8 million
shares in the company so far this year, according to securities
filings. He sold about 791,000 of those shares last week, exercising
stock options due to expire in December, a company spokesperson told the
Wall Street Journal. Toll still directly or indirectly holds 15.9
million shares, or close to 10 percent, of Toll Brothers stock.
Recently, the company’s stock has ranged from about $20 to $23, up from
less than $16 in early July. [more]