Hovnanian Numbers In: Why The Media Blame Game?

Ok well I guess the jury is in and the court finds in favor of Hovnanian Enterprises . (See previous post ) The company issued a press release this afternoon saying they had gross sales of 2,100 homes over the weekend: that's 1,700 contracts with 400 deposits.

Apparently business was so brisk the sales agents didn't have time to write up all of the contracts on the sales. The 72 hour sales event clearly worked. "The preliminary results from our 'Deal of the Century' sales promotion exceeded our expectations," stated Ara K. Hovnanian, President and CEO of the Company.

Unfortunately he went on to blame the "negative publicity" about the housing market for homebuyers' hesitancy. The company's promotion, he claims, gave buyers their confidence back that all that publicity took away.

No mention of course of the mortgage market, Wall Street's revaluing of loan portfolios, nor the sharp rise in foreclosures.

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