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UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE
SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2004
Commission File Number: 001-31524

BROOKFIELD HOMES CORPORATION

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)
     
Delaware   37-1446709
(State or Other Jurisdiction of
Incorporation or Organization)
  (I.R.S. Employer
Identification No.)
     
12865 Pointe Del Mar
Suite 200
Del Mar, California

(Address of Principal Executive Offices)
  92014
(Zip Code)

(858) 481-8500

(Registrant’s Telephone Number, Including Area Code)
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
     
   
Title of Each Class   Name of Each Exchange on Which Registered
Common Stock   New York Stock Exchange

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:

None

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports) and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.

Yes  þ                    No  o

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K  þ.

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an accelerated filer (as defined in Exchange Act Rule 12b-2).

Yes  þ                    No  o

As of June 30, 2004, the aggregate market value of the voting stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant was approximately $392,896,225 based upon the closing market price on June 30, 2004 of a share of common stock on the New York Stock Exchange.

As of March 1, 2005, the registrant had outstanding 30,860,932 shares of its common stock, $0.01 par value per share.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

Portions of the registrant’s 2005 definitive proxy statement, to be filed with the Commission no later than April 30, 2005, are incorporated by reference into Item 10 (Directors and Executive Officers of the Registrant), Item 11 (Executive Compensation), Item 12 (Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management), Item 13 (Certain Relationships and Related Transactions) and Item 14 (Principal Accounting Fees and Services) of Part III of this annual report on Form 10-K.



 


 

PART I

Item 1. Business

Introduction

Brookfield Homes Corporation (“Brookfield Homes”) is a residential homebuilder and land developer, building homes and developing land in master-planned communities and infill locations (unless the context requires otherwise, references in this report to “we,” “our,” “us” and “the Company” refer to Brookfield Homes and its subsidiaries). We design, construct and market single-family and multi-family homes primarily to move-up and luxury homebuyers. We also entitle and develop land for our own communities and sell lots to other homebuilders. Our operations are currently focused primarily in five markets: the San Francisco Bay Area; the Southland / Los Angeles Area; San Diego / Riverside; Sacramento; and the Washington D.C. Area. We targeted these markets because we believe they offer strong housing demand, a constrained supply of developable land and close proximity to areas where we expect continued strong employment growth. Our Washington D.C. Area operations commenced in the mid 1980s and our California operations commenced in 1996.

General Development of Our Business

We were incorporated on August 28, 2002 in Delaware as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Brookfield Properties Corporation (“Brookfield Properties”) in order to acquire all of the California and Washington D.C. Area homebuilding and land development operations of Brookfield Properties pursuant to a reorganization of its residential homebuilding business (which we refer to as the “Spin-off”). On January 6, 2003, Brookfield Properties completed the Spin-off by distributing all of the issued and outstanding common stock it owned in our Company to its common shareholders. We began trading as a separate company on the New York Stock Exchange on January 7, 2003, under the symbol “BHS.”

The following chart summarizes our principal operating subsidiaries in the primary markets in which we operate and the year in which we commenced operations:

             
Market   Year of Entry   Principal Subsidiary
San Francisco Bay Area
    1996     Brookfield Bay Area Holdings LLC
Southland / Los Angeles
    1996     Brookfield Southland Holdings LLC
San Diego / Riverside
    1996     Brookfield San Diego Holdings LLC
Sacramento
    2003     Brookfield Sacramento LLC
Washington D.C. Area
    1984     Brookfield Washington LLC

We also formed Brookfield California Land Holdings LLC to purchase and acquire options to purchase unentitled land in California, an operation that commenced in 1998.

Overview of the Residential Homebuilding and Land Development Industry

The residential homebuilding and land development industry involves converting raw or undeveloped land into residential housing. This process begins with the purchase of raw land and is followed by the development of the land, and the marketing and sale of homes constructed on the land.

Raw Land

Raw land is usually unentitled property, without the regulatory approvals which allow the construction of residential, industrial, commercial or mixed-use buildings. Acquiring and developing raw land requires significant capital expenditures and has associated carrying costs, including property taxes. The selection and purchase of raw land provides the inventory required for development purposes and is an important aspect of the real estate development process. Developers of land, from time to time, sell raw or partially approved land to other homebuilders and land developers as part of the normal course of their business.

Land Development

Land development involves the conversion of raw land to the stage where homes may be constructed on the land. Regulatory bodies at the municipal, regional and state levels must approve the proposed end use of the land and many of the details of the development process. The time required to obtain the necessary approvals varies. In most jurisdictions, development occurs on a contiguous basis to existing land services such as water and sanitation.

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To shorten the development period, many developers purchase land that has been partially developed. This land is generally more expensive than raw land because a portion of the costs and risk associated with the development have been incurred.

Generally, the first significant step in developing a residential community is to complete a draft specific plan incorporating major street patterns and designating parcels of land for various uses, such as parks, schools, rights of way and residential and commercial uses that is consistent with the local city or county general plan. This plan is then submitted for approval to the governmental authority with principal jurisdiction in the area such as a city or county. The draft specific plan is then refined with the local, state and federal agencies designating main and side streets, lot sizes for residential use and the sizes and locations of parcels of land to be used for schools, parks, commercial properties and multi-family dwellings. These refinements are usually made in consultation with local planning officials, state agencies and, if required, federal agencies. In most cases, this process takes several years to complete.

Once the plan has been approved, the developer generally commences negotiations with the local governmental authority on a formal development agreement, which governs the principal aspects of the construction of the community. These negotiations generally involve the review and approval of engineering designs pertaining to various aspects of the development, such as the construction and installation of sewer lines, water mains, utilities, roads and sidewalks. At the same time, the allocation of the costs of these items between the governmental authority and the developer, and the amount of fees which the developer will pay in order to obtain final approval of the plan must be settled.

Upon execution of the development agreement and grading and improvement plans, the developer generally posts a bond with the local governmental authority to secure the developer’s obligations and the plan receives final approval. The developer is generally required to convey to the local municipality, for no consideration, the land upon which roads, sidewalks, rights of way and parks are constructed. Land for schools, if any, is sold to the local school district usually at slightly less than its market value. The school district normally takes responsibility to construct the schools with developer fees and local and state bonds. The developer is usually responsible for the grading of the land and the installation of sewers, water mains, utilities, roads and sidewalks, while the municipality is usually responsible for the construction of recreational and community amenities such as libraries and community centers. The municipality funds its portion of these costs through fees charged to the developer in connection with plan approvals and through the collection of property taxes from local residents.

After a period of one to two years, following the completion by the developer of certain obligations under the development agreement, the municipality takes responsibility from the developer for the underground services, roads and sidewalks, and a portion of the improvement bond posted by the developer is released. The developer is generally required to maintain a minimum portion of the bond with the municipality for several years after completion of the community to ensure performance by the developer of its remaining obligations under the development agreement.

Home Construction and Marketing

Residential home construction involves the actual construction of single-family houses and multi-family buildings such as townhouses and condominiums. Each dwelling is generally referred to as a “unit.” A planned community typically includes a large number of “lots” on which single-family units will be situated and a smaller number of “pads” of land which have been designated for the construction of multi-family units, schools, parks and commercial buildings. The approved development plan specifically provides the total number of lots and pads in the project. The construction phase normally involves consulting, architectural, engineering, interior design, merchandising and marketing personnel who assist the homebuilder in planning the project. Residential home construction is usually performed by subcontractors under the supervision of the homebuilder’s construction management personnel. Marketing and sales of residential units are conducted by marketing sales staff employed by the homebuilder or by independent realtors. Pre-selling residential units before the commencement of their construction is a common sales practice that usually involves the creation of model homes or drawings of the proposed homes in a sales location close to or within the project.

Narrative Description of Our Business

We design, construct and market single-family and multi-family homes primarily to move-up and luxury home-buyers. We also develop land for our own communities and sell lots to other homebuilders. In each of our markets, we operate through local business units which are involved in all phases of the planning and building of our master-planned communities and infill developments. These phases include sourcing and evaluating land acquisitions, site

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planning, obtaining government entitlements, developing the land, product design, constructing, marketing and selling homes and homebuyer customer service. In the five year period ended December 31, 2004, we closed a total of 7,992 homes. A home is considered closed when title has passed to the homebuyer.

We believe we have developed a reputation for innovative planning of master-planned communities and infill developments. Master-planned communities are new home communities that typically feature community centers, parks, recreational areas, schools and other amenities. Within a master-planned community there may be smaller neighborhoods offering a variety of home styles and price levels from which homebuyers may choose. In an infill development, we construct homes in previously urbanized areas on under-utilized land. In connection with planning and building each of our master-planned communities and infill developments, we consider, among other things, amenities, views, traffic flows, open space, schools and security.

In 2004, we closed a total of 1,798 homes, compared with 1,528 in 2003. The breakdown of our home closings by market in the last three years follows:

                         
(Units)   2004     2003     2002  
San Francisco Bay Area
    407       275       273  
Southland / Los Angeles
    437       296       527  
San Diego / Riverside
    507       452       293  
Washington D.C. Area
    447       505       461  
 
                 
Total
    1,798       1,528       1,554  
 
                 

At December 31, 2004, we had in backlog 33% of our planned 1,875 home closings for 2005 delivery. Backlog represents the number of homes subject to pending sales contracts.

We also sell serviced and unserviced lots to other builders, generally on an opportunistic basis where we can enhance our returns, reduce our risk in a market or re-deploy our capital to an asset providing higher returns. In 2004, we sold 400 lots, the majority of which were bulk sales of raw or undeveloped land in the Washington D.C. Area. In 2003, we sold over 5,000 lots, the majority of which were bulk sales of raw or undeveloped land in southern California.

Our average home price in 2004 was $650,000, an increase of 21% over 2003. This increase was due to our product mix and continued price appreciation of homes within our projects. The breakdown of the average prices on our home closings in the last three years follows:

                                                 
    2004     2003     2002  
            Average             Average             Average  
    Sales     Price     Sales     Price     Sales     Price  
    (Millions)             (Millions)             (Millions)          
San Francisco Bay Area
  $ 328     $ 804,000     $ 193     $ 700,000     $ 167     $ 612,000  
Southland / Los Angeles
    391       894,000       258       872,000       330       626,000  
San Diego / Riverside
    231       456,000       137       303,000       98       334,000  
Washington D.C. Area
    219       491,000       230       456,000       190       412,000  
 
                                   
Total
  $ 1,169     $ 650,000     $ 818     $ 535,000     $ 785     $ 505,000  
 
                                   

For more detailed financial information with respect to our revenues, earnings and assets, please see the accompanying consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this report.

Business Strategy

Our goal is to maximize the total return on our common stockholders’ equity over the long term. The key elements of our strategy to achieve this goal are as follows:

Selective Acquisition Policies

We intend to continue to grow by selectively acquiring land that provides us with attractive residential projects that are consistent with our overall strategy and management expertise. We acquire land only if we believe that it will provide us with a minimum return on our invested capital. We also acquire options to purchase land rather than purchasing the land outright, in order to reduce our capital at risk in controlling land. In determining the minimum return we will accept, we take into account the risk inherent in increasing our land inventory and the specific

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development project. In making additional land acquisitions in one of our current markets, we also consider our recent financial returns achieved in that market.

In order to expand our market opportunities, we also selectively pursue joint venture projects with landowners, other homebuilders and intermediaries. We are generally active participants in our joint ventures. In certain circumstances, we acquire options to purchase land rather than purchasing the land outright, in order to reduce our capital at risk in controlling land.

Decentralized Operating Structure

We operate our homebuilding business through local business units responsible for projects in their geographic area. Each of our business units has significant experience in the homebuilding industry in the market in which it operates. We believe that in-depth knowledge of a local market enables our business units to better meet the needs of our customers and to more effectively address the issues that arise on each project. Our business units are responsible for all elements of the homebuilding process, including sourcing and evaluating land acquisitions, site planning and entitlements, developing the land, product design, constructing, marketing and selling homes built on the land, customer service and management reporting. Given the nature of their responsibilities, the compensation of each of the management teams in our business units is directly related to its results. Each business unit operates as a fully integrated profit center and the senior management of each business unit is compensated through a combination of base salary and participation in his or her business unit’s profits. Furthermore, certain business unit presidents own a minority equity interest in their business unit.

We maintain a small corporate team that sets our strategic goals and overall strategy. The corporate team approves all acquisitions, allocates capital to the business units based on expected returns and levels of risk, establishes succession plans, ensures operations maintain a consistent level of quality, evaluates risk and holds management of the business units accountable for the performance of their business unit.

Proactive Asset Management

Our business generally comprises three stages where we make strategic decisions to deploy capital: entitling the raw land that we control; the development of the land; and the construction of homes on the land. As our assets evolve through these stages, we continually assess our ability to maximize returns on our capital while at the same time minimizing our risks. The decision to advance an asset through each stage of development is based on a number of factors, including the amount of capital to be deployed, the level of incremental returns at each stage and returns on other investment opportunities.

Creating Communities

We seek to acquire land that allows us to create communities that include recreational amenities such as parks, biking and walking trails, efficient traffic flows, schools and public service facilities. We integrate land planning and development with housing product design in order to deliver lifestyle, comfort and value. We cooperate with local and regulatory authorities in order to be responsive to community conditions, and we attempt to balance our goal of maximizing the value of our land with the impact of development on the community and the environment. We encourage our employees to actively participate in local community activities and associations.

Risk Management

We focus on managing risk in each stage of the homebuilding and land development process. In the land acquisition phase, we use options and joint ventures to mitigate the risk that land values will decline due to poor economic or real estate market conditions, or that we will be unable to obtain approval for development of a proposed community. We attempt to limit development approval risk by conducting significant due diligence before we close land acquisitions. Furthermore, we generally participate in land developments which we believe will allow us to sell our interest or take other protective actions should a downturn in the real estate market occur. We sell lots and parcels when we believe we can redeploy capital to an asset providing higher returns or reduce risk in a market.

When constructing homes, we strive to satisfy our customers and limit our product liability risk by:

•   selecting carefully the building materials that we use;
 
•   emphasizing to our employees and subcontractors that our homes are to be built to meet a high standard of quality and workmanship;
 
•   using only insured subcontractors to perform construction activities;
 
•   providing on-site quality control; and
 
•   providing after-sales service.

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Finally, we attempt to limit the risk of overbuilding by matching our construction starts to our sales rates. We generally do not begin selling homes until a significant portion of the homes’ construction costs have been established through firm subcontractor bids.

Asset Profile

Our assets are focused on single-family and multi-family homebuilding in the markets in which we operate. They consist primarily of housing and land inventory and investments in housing and land joint ventures. Our total assets excluding cash and cash equivalents as of December 31, 2004 were $895 million, with $618 million of these assets located in California and $277 million in the Washington D.C. Area.

As of December 31, 2004, we controlled 27,966 lots. Controlled lots include those we directly own, our proportionate share of those owned by our joint ventures and those that we have the option to purchase. Our controlled lots provide a strong foundation for our future homebuilding business and visibility on our future cash flow and earnings. Over 90% of our owned lots are entitled and ready for development and our optioned lots are generally unentitled and require various regulatory approvals before development can commence. The number of residential building lots we control in each of our markets as of December 31, 2004 follows:

                                 
    Owned              
(Lots)   Directly     Joint Ventures     Options     Total Lots  
San Francisco Bay Area
    704       709       2,125       3,538  
Southland / Los Angeles
    330       180       2,713       3,223  
San Diego / Riverside
    4,865       1,815       2,145       8,825  
Sacramento
          310       4,210       4,520  
Washington D.C. Area
    3,182       952       3,726       7,860  
 
                       
Total December 31, 2004
    9,081       3,966       14,919       27,966  
 
                       
Total December 31, 2003
    7,257       3,748       10,601       21,606  
 
                       

Our housing and land inventory includes homes completed or under construction, developed land and raw land. The book value of our housing and land inventory in each of our primary markets for the last two years follows:

                 
    December 31,     December 31,  
(Book Value, $ millions)   2004     2003  
San Francisco Bay Area
  $ 115     $ 165  
Southland / Los Angeles
    91       118  
San Diego / Riverside
    274       165  
Sacramento
    11       4  
Washington D.C. Area
    189       115  
 
           
Total
  $ 680     $ 567  
 
           

The book value of our investments in housing and land joint ventures as of December 31, 2004 was $60 million. The total book value of the assets and liabilities of these joint ventures and our share of the equity of the joint ventures as of December 31, 2004 follows:

         
    December 31,  
(Book Value, $ millions)   2004  
Assets
  $ 400  
Liabilities
  $ 324  
Brookfield Homes’ net investment
  $ 60  

Our housing markets continue to exhibit strong economic fundamentals which we believe allows us to participate in a number of projects without undue risk. The following describes our major projects:

Windemere, San Francisco East Bay Area. Windemere is a 5,200 unit master-planned community located on one of the last premier infill tracts of residential housing land in the East Bay area of San Francisco. Windemere was acquired under option in 1998, final approvals were obtained in 2000 and lot sales commenced in 2001. We hold a one-third interest in Windemere, with the other two-thirds owned equally by Centex Corporation and Lennar Corporation. We have no affiliation with Centex Corporation or Lennar Corporation. We directly own 226 lots in Windemere and our share of the remaining joint venture units is 709 lots.

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Irvine Ranch and Newport Coast, Orange County. Irvine Ranch and Newport Coast are master-planned communities owned by the Irvine Company. We acquire lots from the Irvine Company on a rolling option basis, and believe we have developed a strong reputation for our homes among upper-end buyers in Orange County, California. We have closed more than 500 homes since 1999, and as of December 31, 2004, we had under contract to purchase or option 256 lots in this area.

Audie Murphy, Riverside County. Audie Murphy Ranch is a 999 acre project in the Menifee Valley in the County of Riverside. We obtained final approvals in 2004 and grading is planned to commence in 2005. We hold a 50% interest in Audie Murphy, with the remaining 50% held by Woodside Homes. We have no affiliation with Woodside Homes.

Calavera Hills, San Diego County. Calavera Hills is an 800 acre property located in the coastal community of Carlsbad. We completed Phase I of the project with the construction of 483 homes. Approvals for Phase II were obtained for 642 homes, grading commenced in 2002 and home closings commenced in 2004. Phase III, planned with 400 units, is currently being processed by the local authorities. We hold a 50% interest in Calavera Hills, with the remaining 50% held by McMillin Companies. We have no affiliation with McMillin Companies.

Sycamore Canyon, San Diego County. Sycamore Canyon is a 2,132 acre project located in San Diego County. The project was acquired under option in 1998, and in 2002, final approvals were obtained and grading of the site commenced. Home closings commenced in 2004. We hold a 50% interest in Sycamore Canyon, with the remaining 50% held by McMillin Companies. We directly own 232 units and our share of the remaining joint venture is 152 units.

Winding Walk, San Diego County. Winding Walk (Otay Ranch Village II) in south San Diego County is a 1,200 acre project. Grading commenced in 2002 on the site, and home closings commenced in 2004. We hold a 50% interest in this project with the remaining 50% held by Shea Homes. We have no affiliation with Shea Homes. We own directly 407 units and our share of the remaining joint venture is 387 units.

Braemar, Washington D.C. Area. Braemar is a master-planned community located in Prince William County that began development in 1994. Since 1999, we have closed over 2,100 homes and lots. As of December 31, 2004, we had 1,324 lots remaining in Braemar and adjacent communities in which we hold a 100% interest.

Property Acquisition and Sale

Before entering into an agreement to purchase land, we complete comparative studies and analyses that assist us in evaluating the acquisition. We manage our risk and attempt to maximize our return on invested capital on land acquisitions by either entering into option agreements or joint venture arrangements. We attempt to limit our development approval risk by conducting significant due diligence before we close land acquisitions. Furthermore, we generally seek to participate in land developments which we believe will allow us to sell our interest or take other protective actions should a downturn in the real estate market occur.

We believe that we own an adequate supply of land in our existing markets to maintain, on average, our operations at their current levels for at least the next seven years. We regularly evaluate our land inventory and strategically sell lots and parcels of land to third parties at various stages of the development process to increase our returns from a project.

Construction and Development

We attempt to match our construction starts to our sales rate. We control our construction starts by constructing and selling homes in phases. Generally, we will not start construction of a phase of homes until sales of homes to be built in the phase have met predetermined targets. The size of these phases depends upon factors such as current sales and cancellation rates, the type of buyer targeted for a particular project, the time of year and our assessment of prevailing and anticipated economic conditions. We generally do not begin selling homes until a significant portion of the homes’ construction costs are established through firm subcontractor bids.

We attempt to limit the number of unsold units under construction by limiting the size of each construction phase and closely monitoring sales activity. Building homes of a similar product type in phases also allows us to utilize production techniques that reduce our construction costs. The number of our unsold homes fluctuates depending upon the timing of completion of construction and absorption of home phases. As of December 31, 2004, we had 22 completed and unsold homes, excluding the 36 model homes we currently maintain.

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We function as a general contractor, subcontracting the construction activities for our projects. We manage these activities with on-site supervisory employees and informational and management control systems. We engage independent architectural, design, engineering and other consulting firms to assist in project planning. We do not have long-term contractual commitments with our subcontractors, consultants or suppliers of materials, who are generally selected on a competitive bid basis. We employ subcontractors for site improvements and for virtually all of the work involved in the construction of homes. In almost all instances, our subcontractors commit to complete the specified work in accordance with written price schedules. These price schedules normally change to meet fluctuations in labor and material costs. We do not own heavy construction equipment and we have a relatively small labor force used to supervise development and construction, and to perform routine maintenance service and minor amounts of other work. We have generally been able to obtain sufficient materials and subcontractors, even during times of market shortages. We build a home in approximately five to eight months, depending upon the availability of raw materials and supplies, governmental approvals, local labor situation, time of year, design and other factors.

Sales and Marketing

We advertise in local newspapers and magazines and on billboards to assist us in selling our homes. We also utilize direct mailings, special promotional events, illustrated brochures and model homes in our marketing program. The internet has also become an important source of information for our customers. Through the internet, potential buyers are able to search for their home, take a virtual video tour of selected homes, obtain general information about our projects and communicate directly with our personnel.

We sell our homes through our own sales representatives and through independent real estate brokers. Our in-house sales force typically works from sales offices located in model homes close to or in each community. Sales representatives assist potential buyers by providing them with basic floor plans, price information, development and construction timetables, tours of model homes and the selection of options. Sales personnel are licensed by the applicable real estate bodies in their respective markets, are trained by us and generally have had prior experience selling new homes in the local market. Our personnel, along with subcontracted marketing and design consultants, carefully design exteriors and interiors of each home to coincide with the lifestyles of targeted buyers. We use various floor plan types and elevations to provide a more varied street scene and a sense of customization for the buyers.

As of December 31, 2004, we owned 36 model homes, which are not generally available for sale until the final build-out of a project. Generally, two to four different model homes are built and decorated at each project to display design features. Model homes play a key role in helping buyers understand the efficiencies and value provided by each floor plan type. In addition to model homes, customers can gain an understanding of the various design features and options available to them using our design centers. At each design center, customers can meet with a designer and are shown the standard and upgraded selections available to them, including professional interior design furnishings and accessories.

We typically sell homes during construction using sales contracts that include cash deposits by the purchasers. Before entering into sales contracts, we generally pre-qualify our customers. However, purchasers can generally cancel sales contracts if they are unable to sell their existing homes, if they fail to qualify for financing, or under certain other circumstances. Although cancellations can delay the sale of our homes, they have not in the past had a material impact on our operating results because we closely monitor the progress of prospective buyers in obtaining financing. We also monitor and adjust our construction start plans depending on the level of demand for our homes.

Customer Service and Quality Control

We pay particular attention to the product design process and carefully consider quality and choice of materials in order to attempt to eliminate building deficiencies. The quality and workmanship of the trade contractors we employ is monitored and we make regular inspections to ensure our standards are met.

We staff each business unit with quality control and customer service staff whose role includes providing a positive experience for each customer throughout the pre-sale, sale, building, closing and post-closing periods. These employees are also responsible for providing after-sales customer service. Our quality and service initiatives include taking customers on a comprehensive tour of their home prior to closing and using customer survey results to improve our standards of quality and customer satisfaction.

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Mortgage Brokerage Operations

We offer mortgage brokerage services exclusively to our customers in our San Francisco Bay Area, Southland / Los Angeles, San Diego and Washington D.C. Area markets. We have agreements with various lenders to receive a fee on loans made by the lenders to customers we introduce to the lenders. We provide mortgage origination services to our customers in the Washington D.C. Area and do not retain or service the mortgages we originate. We customarily sell all of the loans and loan servicing rights that we originate in the secondary market within a month of origination. For the year ended December 31, 2004, less than 1% of our revenue and less than 1% of our net income was derived from our mortgage operations.

Relationship with Affiliates

We are a residential homebuilder and land developer, building homes and developing land primarily in four markets in California and in the Washington D.C. Area. None of our affiliates, including Brascan and Brookfield Properties, operate in similar businesses in our markets. Nevertheless, there are several agreements among our affiliates to which we are a party or subject. For a description of these agreements refer to “Certain Relationships and Related Transactions” which is incorporated by reference into Item 13 of this report from our definitive 2005 proxy statement, which will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission not later than April 30, 2005.

Several of our directors serve as executive officers and directors of our affiliates. For a description of those relationships refer to “Certain Relationships and Related Transactions” which is incorporated by reference into Item 13 of this report from our definitive 2005 proxy statement which will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission not later than April 30, 2005.

Competition

The residential homebuilding industry is highly competitive. We compete against numerous homebuilders and others in the real estate business in and near the areas where our communities are located. Our principal competitors are primarily national public company homebuilders, including Centex Corporation, Lennar Corporation, Pulte Corporation, Standard Pacific Corp. and Toll Brothers, Inc. We may compete for investment opportunities, financing, available land, raw materials and skilled labor with entities that possess greater financial, marketing and other resources than us. Competition may increase the bargaining power of property owners seeking to sell and industry competition may increase if there is future consolidation in the residential homebuilding and land development industry.

Material Contracts

Other than contracts arising in connection with the reorganization and the Spin-off of the residential homebuilding operations of Brookfield Properties, and a deposit facility with a subsidiary of Brascan, we are not party or subject to any material contracts. For a description of the material contracts arising in connection with the reorganization, refer to “Certain Relationships and Related Transactions” which is incorporated by reference into Item 13 of this report from our definitive 2005 proxy statement which will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission not later than April 30, 2005.

Regulation and Environment

We are subject to local and state laws and regulations concerning zoning, design, construction and similar matters, including local regulations which impose restrictive zoning and density requirements in order to limit the number of homes that eventually can be built within the boundaries of a particular area. We are also subject to periodic delays in our homebuilding projects due to building moratoria. In addition, new development projects may be subject to various assessments for schools, parks, streets and highways and other public improvements, the costs of which can be substantial. When made, these assessments can have a negative impact on our sales by raising the price that homebuyers must pay for our homes.

We are also subject to local, state and federal laws and regulations concerning the protection of the environment. The environmental laws that apply to a given homebuilding site depend upon the site’s location, its environmental conditions and the present and former uses of the site and its adjoining properties. Environmental laws and conditions may result in delays, or cause us to incur substantial compliance and other costs, and can prohibit or severely restrict homebuilding activity in environmentally sensitive regions or areas.

We do not currently have any material estimated capital expenditures related to governmental assessments or environmental compliance costs for the remainder of fiscal 2005, fiscal 2006 or fiscal 2007.

9


 

In connection with our operations, some of our employees have general contractor and real estate sales licenses, which are subject to governmental regulations. Our employees holding those licenses are currently in material compliance with all applicable regulations.

Seasonality

We have historically experienced variability in our results of operations from quarter to quarter due to the seasonal nature of the homebuilding business and the timing of new community openings and the closing out of projects. We typically experience the highest rate of orders for new homes in the first six months of the calendar year, although the rate of orders for new homes is highly dependent upon the number of active communities. Because new home deliveries trail orders for new homes by several months, we typically deliver a greater percentage of new homes in the second half of the year compared with the first half of the year. As a result, our revenues from sales of homes are generally higher in the second half of the year.

Employees

As of December 31, 2004, we had 589 employees. We consider our relations with our employees to be good. Our construction operations are conducted primarily through independent subcontractors, which limits the number of our employees. None of our employees are currently represented by a union or covered by a collective bargaining agreement. We have not recently experienced any work stoppages.

Available Information

We make available free of charge on our website our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and any amendments to these reports as soon as reasonably practicable after we file such material with, or furnish it to, the SEC. The reports may be accessed by visiting our website at www.brookfieldhomes.com and clicking on the “Investor Relations” link. We will also provide these reports in paper format to our stockholders free of charge upon request made to our Investor Relations department. Information on our website is not part of this annual report on Form 10-K.

NYSE Annual Disclosure

We confirm that we have submitted a Section 12(a) CEO Certification to the NYSE in 2004 and filed with the SEC the CEO / CFO certification required under Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act for the 2004 fiscal year.

Item 2. Properties

In addition to real estate held for development and sale, which we either own or hold under an option to purchase, we lease and maintain executive offices in Del Mar, California. Our Del Mar lease expires in 2007, but we may, at our option, extend the lease for an additional six years.

We also maintain administrative offices in Toronto, Canada. In addition, we have other offices located in the markets in which we conduct business, generally in our communities or in leased space. None of these other office premises are material to our business. We believe that our office space is suitable and adequate for our needs for the foreseeable future.

Item 3. Legal Proceedings

We are party to various legal actions arising in the ordinary course of our business. We believe that none of these actions, either individually or in the aggregate, will have a material adverse effect on our financial condition or results of operations.

Item 4. Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders

None.

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PART II

Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

Our common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “BHS,” and began regular trading on January 7, 2003. The following table shows high and low sales prices for our common stock, for the periods included, as reported by the NYSE, as adjusted for the $9.00 per share Special Dividend paid in 2004.

                                                 
    Year Ended December 31, 2004   Year Ended December 31, 2003
                    Cash Dividends                     Cash Dividends  
    High     Low     Per Share     High     Low     Per Share  
         
1st Quarter
  $ 26.71     $ 14.90           $ 4.32     $ 0.22        
2nd Quarter
  $ 30.91     $ 21.75     $ 9.08  (1)   $ 8.81     $ 4.10     $ 0.08  
3rd Quarter
  $ 29.01     $ 24.87           $ 9.75     $ 6.26        
4th Quarter
  $ 34.66     $ 24.81     $ 0.08     $ 18.25     $ 9.50     $ 0.08  
         

(1)   $4.50 was paid in the form of a subordinate note which was redeemed for cash during the fourth quarter of 2004.

As of March 1, 2005, there were approximately 959 holders of record of our common stock.

Our board of directors periodically reviews our dividend policy. Future dividends on our common stock, if any, will be at the discretion of our board of directors and will depend upon, among other things, our results of operations, cash requirements and surplus, financial condition, contractual restrictions, investment opportunities and other factors that our board of directors considers relevant.

There are no current or anticipated contractual terms in our credit or other arrangements that restrict our ability to pay dividends, other than the requirements imposed by our project specific financings that require Brookfield Homes Holdings Inc., our wholly-owned subsidiary, maintain a tangible net worth of at least $250 million, and the additional requirements of our project specific financings that Brookfield Homes Holdings Inc. maintain a net debt to tangible net worth ratio of 1.75 to 1 and a net debt to capitalization ratio of no greater than 65%. Refer to “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations – Contractual Obligations and Other Commitments” for additional information about these and other restrictions.

In February 2003, our board of directors approved and announced our share repurchase program which allows us to repurchase up to $40 million of our outstanding common shares. This program does not have an expiration date.

                                 
                            Maximum  
                    Total Number of     Approximate Dollar  
    Total     Average     Shares Purchased     Value of Shares That  
    Number     Price     as Part of Publicly     May Yet be Purchased  
    of Shares     Paid Per     Announced Plans     Under the Plans or  
Period   Purchased     Share     or Programs     Programs  
October 1, 2004 – October 31, 2004 (1)
    20,000     $ 25.77       20,000     $ 16,367,968  
November 1, 2004 – November 30, 2004
                    $ 16,367,968  
December 1, 2004 – December 31, 2004
                    $ 16,367,968  
 
                       
Total
    20,000     $ 25.77       20,000     $ 16,367,968  

(1)   All shares were purchased pursuant to the publicly announced plan in open-market transactions.

Subsequent to December 31, 2004, our board of directors approved an increase in the share repurchase program from $16 million to an aggregate of $35 million.

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Securities Authorized for Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plans

The following table summarizes our equity compensation plans as of December 31, 2004:

                         
    (a)     (b)     (c)  
                Number of Securities  
                Remaining Available for  
    Number of Securities to be     Weighted-average     Future Issuance Under  
    Issued upon Exercise of     Exercise Price of     Equity Compensation Plans  
    Outstanding Options,     Outstanding Options,     (Excluding Securities  
    Warrants and Rights     Warrants and Rights     Reflected in Column (a))  
Equity compensation plans approved by stockholders
    756,625     $ 3.83       1,158,375  
Equity compensation plans not approved by stockholders
          n/a        
 
                 
Total
    756,625     $ 3.83       1,158,375  
 
                 

12


 

Item 6. Selected Financial Data

The following tables include selected historical consolidated financial data for each year in the five year period ended December 31, 2004.

This selected financial data should be read along with “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and our audited historical consolidated financial statements and the related notes included elsewhere in this report.

The historical financial data for all periods presented prior to 2003 relates to our business as it was operated by Brookfield Properties prior to the Spin-off, and therefore some of our expenses are based upon allocations made by Brookfield Properties. For example, allocations were made with respect to personnel, space, estimates of time spent to provide services and other appropriate costs. We believe the allocations were made on a reasonable basis and that no material change to our costs would be expected had our business been operated as a stand-alone entity.

United States GAAP

Our income statement data, balance sheet data and supplementary financial data prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP and our operating data are as follows:

                                         
    Years Ended December 31  
Income Statement Data                              
($ millions, except per share amounts)   2004     2003     2002     2001     2000  
Housing revenue
  $ 1,169     $ 818     $ 785     $ 729     $ 590  
Total revenue (1)
    1,232       1,001       831       790       666  
Gross margin (1) (2)
    287       211       131       119       93  
Operating income (3)
    268       166       81       72       52  
Contribution from bulk land sales to net income (4)
    9       39             2        
Net income
    146       88       43       40       29  
Diluted earnings per share (5)
    4.64       2.75       1.35       1.23       0.99  
Cash dividends per share (6)
    9.16       0.16       0.52              
                                         
    At December 31  
Balance Sheet Data ($ millions)   2004     2003     2002     2001     2000  
Housing and land inventory
  $ 680     $ 567     $ 616     $ 633     $ 547  
Cash and cash equivalents
    187       219       36       1       8  
Total assets
    1,082       1,013       844       851       762  
Total debt
    512       426       424       499       472  
Total liabilities
    836       631       523       564       551  
Total stockholders’ equity
    246       382       321       287       211  
                                         
    Years Ended December 31  
Supplemental Financial Data ($ millions)   2004     2003     2002     2001     2000  
Cash provided by/(used in):
                                       
Operating activities
  $ 164     $ 209     $ 102     $ (32 )   $ 99  
Investment activities
    25       6       24             (51 )
Financing activities
    (221 )     (32 )     (91 )     25       (42 )
Net debt to total capitalization % (7)
    51 %     32 %     53 %     62 %     68 %
                                         
    Years Ended December 31  
Operating Data (Unaudited)   2004     2003     2002     2001     2000  
Home closings (units)
    1,798       1,528       1,554       1,645       1,467  
Net new orders (units) (8)
    1,765       1,710       1,580       1,531       1,581  
Backlog (units at end of period) (9)
    616