Hovanian reports worse than expected quarterly loss

New Jersey-based home builder Hovanian reported a quarterly loss nearly double what analysts expected in another sign that the housing market has yet to pull out of its free-fall.  With home builders offering buy one, get one free deals, it's hard to see how those builders who bet big during the run-up won't continue to feel significant pain on the way down.  How many of them are going to fail I think is the real question. From Bloomberg on Hovanian's terrible quarter: Hovnanian Enterprises Inc., New Jersey's biggest homebuilder, fell as much as 8.4 percent in New York after reporting a quarterly loss almost double what analysts estimated. Builders across the U.S. are losing money as the industry enters its third year of decline, the worst slump since the 1930s. The five largest