Toll Bros. home-building sales fall, top estimates

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Luxury home builder Toll Brothers Inc (TOL.N) said on Wednesday that it expected to report a decline in quarterly home-building revenue as the U.S. housing crisis deepened.

Based on preliminary results, Toll Brothers said its home-building revenue fell 21 percent to about $1.21 billion in the third quarter ended on July 31.

"We are now in the twenty-third month of a down housing market," Chief Executive Robert Toll said in a statement. "With the uncertainties roiling the mortgage markets right now, the pace of home sales could slow further until the credit markets settle down."

The Horsham, Pennsylvania-based company said that under current market conditions, it was not comfortable giving an earnings outlook.

Toll plans to report its third-quarter results on August 22.

Pending completion of an impairment analysis, Toll estimates its pretax write-down for operating communities, land and land options for the quarter at $125 million to $175 million.

Looking to indicators of future revenue results, Toll said net signed contracts were down 31 percent from a year earlier to $727.1 million.

The third-quarter cancellation rate was 23.8 percent compared with the prior quarter's rate of 18.9 percent.

(Reporting by Lilla Zuill)