Home-building giant NVR posted a profit for the first three months of 2009, showing resiliency in the face of a foundering housing market.

The Reston company reported earnings of $18m ($3.02 per share), a 59% decrease from 2008's first quarter, when it earned $43.5m ($7.42). Revenue totaled $548.3m in the first three months of 2009, a 37% decline from $869.9m a year earlier.

The results are an improvement from the fourth quarter of 2008, when NVR posted a loss of $30.5m, its first of the housing bust.

Washington Post