Results for the June quarter
NVR reported net income of $236.5 million and diluted earnings of $83.96 per share for the quarter ended June 30, down 29% and 23% respectively from $333.7 million and $108.54 a year earlier, in results filed July 23.
Consolidated revenues were $2.33 billion, against $2.60 billion in the same quarter of 2025. Settlements fell 8% to 5,058 units at an average settlement price of $450,700, itself 3% lower than a year earlier.
The forward indicators were stronger. New orders rose 9% to 5,885 units, though at an average order price of $437,100 — 5% below a year earlier and roughly $13,600 below the average price on homes settled in the quarter.
The price gap inside the order book
Analysis: the difference between the $450,700 average settlement price and the $437,100 average new-order price is the most informative figure in the release. Settlements reflect contracts signed months ago; orders reflect what buyers agreed to pay during the quarter just ended.
A new-order average running below the settlement average means the homes entering the pipeline are priced lower than those leaving it. Held constant, that translates into further revenue-per-unit decline in coming quarters even if unit volumes hold.
The 9% rise in unit orders against a 5% fall in order price nets out to roughly flat order value — volume bought at the cost of price. That is the same trade-off visible across the large-builder results of 2026, expressed here with unusual clarity because NVR reports both averages.
Cancellations and backlog
The cancellation rate fell to 15% from 17% in the second quarter of 2025. Cancellations are a direct read on buyer conviction: a contracted buyer walks away when financing fails, when confidence drops, or when a competing home becomes cheaper.
An improvement of two points, while modest, runs counter to the narrative of a deteriorating buyer. It suggests the buyers NVR signed in the spring of 2026 were more likely to complete than those it signed a year earlier.
Backlog rose 9% in units to 10,998 homes and 5% in dollars to $4.99 billion. The gap between those two growth rates is the price effect again — more homes in the pipeline, each worth less than the homes in last year's pipeline.
Why this builder's numbers read differently
NVR operates a land-light model, acquiring finished lots through options rather than holding large owned land positions. That structure reduces the capital tied up in land and the write-down risk when prices fall, and it is why the company's earnings per share run in the dollar figures rather than the cents of most peers — it carries far fewer shares outstanding.
The model also changes what a downturn looks like on the income statement. A builder carrying owned land absorbs a downturn partly through impairments; a builder controlling lots through options absorbs it mainly through margin and volume, which is what this quarter shows.
Set against PulteGroup's June quarter — closings down 8%, orders up 6%, average price down 3% — the two sets of results describe a consistent market: order volumes holding up, realized prices falling, and earnings following the price line rather than the volume line.