WRAPUP 3-Hombuilders Beazer, M.D.C. Holdings report profits

* Beazer Q1 shr $1.17 vs yr-earlier $2.08 per share loss

* M.D.C. Q4 shr $2.68 vs yr-ago $1.92 per share loss

* Beazer's shares down 1 pct, M.D.C.'s down 3 pct (Rewrites first paragraph; adds background, executive quote; updates share movement)

NEW YORK, Feb 5 (Reuters) - U.S. homebuilders Beazer Homes USA Inc (BZH.N) and M.D.C. Holdings Inc (MDC.N) posted quarterly profits on Friday, but the companies would have lost money without one-time tax benefits.

Builders have been basking in something of respite from the protracted slump that has afflicted their industry for years. But they owe much of their improvement in fortune to help from the government, including federal tax breaks such as the homebuyer tax credit.

Rivals such as Lennar Corp (LEN.N) and Meritage Homes Inc (MTH.N) also reported profits for their most recent quarters, citing the tax benefits and improvement in some markets.

Indeed, orders have risen across the industry, and M.D.C. and Beazer were no exception. M.D.C.'s orders almost doubled to 637 homes. Beazer's orders rose 37 percent to 728 homes.

The question, executives say, is whether the industry might sink into another soft patch once the tax credit expires.

Beazer, for example, sees its orders up year-over-year, but not necessarily in every quarter, Chief Executive Ian McCarthy said.

"The caveat relating to quarterly variability is important," McCarthy told the company's analysts on a conference call. "We cannot fully anticipate the impact of the extended tax credit ... on our home sales, or the extent to which any increase may simply reflect a pulling forward of demand."

Including the tax benefit of $2.24 per share, Beazer said it earned $50 million, or $1.17 per share, for its fiscal first quarter ended Dec. 31, compared with a loss of $80.3 million, or $2.08 per share, a year before.

Excluding the benefit, Beazer would have lost $1.07 per share, missing analyst estimates of a loss of 90 cents per share.

M.D.C. Holdings, based in Denver and most widely known as Richmond American Homes, reported its first profit since the third quarter of 2006, posting fourth-quarter net income of $127.2 million, or $2.68 per share. That compared with a net loss of $89 million, or $1.92 per share, a year earlier.

But excluding the tax benefit of $142.6 million, however, Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S said the company lost 33 cents per share, which still beat analyst estimates of a loss of 39 cents per share.

M.D.C.'s revenue increased 9 percent to $323.9 million while Beazer's was roughly flat, at $218.8 million.

Beazer's shares were down 5 cents or 1.2 percent at $4.06 while M.D.C.'s were down $1.18 or 3.4 percent at $33.43 in early afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Helen Chernikoff; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick, Phil Berlowitz)