Denver-based MDC Holdings Inc. recently laid off employees in most of its divisions nationwide.
The company declined to disclose how many people were laid off, saying they represent a small percentage of its 4,000-member workforce.
“We have and will continue to adjust our staffing levels, based on market conditions and the volume of business we conduct,” Paris Reece III, the company’s chief financial officer, said in a statement Monday.
MDC, the nation’s ninth-largest homebuilder, reported revenue last year of $4.88 billion. Its top two executives, chairman and chief executive Larry Mizel and president David Mandarich, each earned more than $40 million in salaries, bonuses and stock options in the last fiscal year.
Founded by Mizel in 1972, the company ranks No. 437 on the Fortune 500 list of top U.S. companies.
Since 1994, MDC’s market capitalization has gone from $95 million to $2.6 billion.
Shares of MDC reached a high of $88.17 in July. Since then, their value has dropped 42.2 percent to close at $50.97 on Monday.
A recent report by the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo found that confidence among U.S. homebuilders dropped to its lowest level in nearly 11 years last month as rising mortgage rates and low demand fueled an increase in new homes on the market.
The index of builder confidence fell to 45, the lowest since June 1995, from 51 in April. The gauge fell below 50 for the first time since November 2001, signaling that pessimists outnumber optimists.
Another report by the National Association of Realtors found that U.S. home sales dropped 1.5 percent in the first quarter and prices declined in some cities for the first time in 15 years.
Staff writer Margaret Jackson can be reached at 303-820-1473 or mjackson@denverpost.com.
