Public Home Builders Council Announces Appointment of Executive Director; Housing Industry Veteran, Samuel ''Skip'' Cypert, to Join PHBCA in New Post.

NEW YORK -- The Public Home Builders Council of America (PHBCA), a non-profit industry group composed of 14 of the largest U.S. public homebuilding companies, today announced the appointment of Samuel "Skip" Cypert to the position of Executive Director, effective immediately. Mr. Cypert will be responsible for setting the strategic direction of the Council as well as overseeing day-to-day operations.

Before joining the PHBCA, Mr. Cypert was Vice President of Investor Relations for Masco Corporation, a $12 billion manufacturer of home improvement and building products. At Masco, his responsibilities focused on investor relations and corporate communications activities including shareholder communications, public relations, corporate advertising and crisis communications. He was also responsible for establishing and maintaining relationships with sell side analysts and institutional investors who follow the industry as well as acting as company spokesperson for all corporate matters.

"Skip's leadership style and strategic focus at Masco, coupled with his extensive knowledge of the housing industry and capital markets, make him an ideal choice for this important position," said James Zeumer, PHBCA president. "He brings a deep understanding of the U.S. homebuilding industry and will be instrumental in helping us to meet our objective of raising awareness of the competitive advantages of the nation's largest homebuilders. He also brings significant Wall Street experience with a specialization in effectively communicating with investors and analysts. I have no doubt that he will make an enormous contribution to the PHBCA and increase the recognition and appreciation of the large, publicly traded homebuilders' points of differentiation."

Prior to joining Masco, Mr. Cypert was Director-in-Charge of Communications for the U.S. operations of KPMG and served on the international committee responsible for maintaining worldwide communications standards and ensuring compliance with the Firm's corporate identity system. He has more than thirty years of experience in the communications field. Mr. Cypert is author of several books on business communications and management and has conducted numerous seminars on related topics for leading companies in the U.S. and Europe.

The Public Home Builders Council of America (PHBCA) is a non-profit organization devoted to raising awareness and recognition for the expanding role that the public builders play as stable and growing providers of housing for millions of Americans. PHBCA consists of 14 of the leading public homebuilding companies within the broad $250 billion housing industry. PHBCA member companies are Beazer Homes USA, Centex Corporation, D.R. Horton, Hovnanian Enterprises, KB Home, Lennar Corporation, MDC Holdings, Meritage Homes Corporation, Pulte Homes, Ryland Group, Standard Pacific Homes, Technical Olympic USA, Toll Brothers, Inc. and WCI Communities. These companies build a wide array of single family and multi-family units that range from affordable homes for first-time homebuyers, to first and second time move-up homes, to luxury condominium towers to vacation homes for the active adult community. Operating in 37 states, the 14 PHBCA companies delivered over 270,000 new homes in 2004, or more than 22% of all new homes sold in the U.S. that year. In the top 25 housing markets, PHBCA members collectively held, on average, almost 30% market share in 2004. With more than 75,000 employees nationwide, PHBCA member companies had combined annual revenues of over $77 billion in their fiscal 2004 periods. For more information on the PHBCA, visit www.phbca.org.

The views expressed in the foregoing are those of the Public Home Builders Council of America (the "PHBCA") and are not attributable to the individual company members of the PHBCA. The statements in this release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements that represent the PHBCA's current expectations and assumptions based upon data currently available to and reviewed by the PHBCA. Should the data available to the PHBCA change or the PHBCA's underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results or developments may vary materially from those expected by the PHBCA. The PHBCA disclaims any obligation to update or revise the statements made in this release.