KB Home said Thursday it swung to a loss in the third quarter, despite a hefty gain from the sale of its French operations, as the housing market deteriorated further in the summer months. Excluding the French operations, the company reported a loss of $478.6 million, or $6.19 per share, from continuing operations. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected a loss of 72 cents per share. Company said it expects the market to worsen through 2008 as rising foreclosure rates increase the supply of homes on the market, leading to lower prices.
"At this time, we see no signs that the housing market is stabilizing and believe it will be some time before a recovery begins," said President and Chief Executive Jeffrey Mezger in a statement."The oversupply of unsold new and resale homes and downward pressure on new home values has worsened in many of our markets," Mezger said.
