No Sign of Housing Recovery: Hovnanian

There is currently no indication of the end of the housing crunch, the chief executive of home builder Hovnanian Enterprises told CNBC Tuesday.

"I can't say that we're at the bottom, and that it's over and ready for recovery," Ara Hovnanian told "Squawk Box."

"I can say that I've been through this many times, and many cycles -- our company is almost 50 years old -- and I've been through a big chunk of it myself," Hovnanian said. "We just have to get through this period as an industry, and it will end.  The sky's not falling.  It'll come, but it's just not here at the moment yet."

After the bell Monday, the company said its first-quarter loss more than doubled from the same period a year ago.

The company said its net contracts for the first quarter, excluding joint ventures, declined 41.2 percent to 1,511. The dollar value of net contracts dropped nearly 50 percent to $457.8 million, with the average home price down nearly 15 percent to $302,971.

Hovnanian's contract cancellation rate, excluding the joint ventures, dropped to 38 percent from 40 percent last quarter, but was higher than the 36 percent in last year's first quarter.

The company's outlook was also guarded.

"I have a feeling it's going to settle out soon, but we can't say that definitively," Ara Hovnanian told CNBC. "My crystal ball is just not polished highly enough right now."

-- The Associated Press contributed to this report

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