Shares of Horton tumbled to a 52-week low, losing 88 cents, or 5 percent, to $16.60 in late-morning trading.

D.R. Horton's Schuler Division is one of Hawai'i's largest homebuilders.

Horton executives had braced for a poor spring — normally the best time of year to sell homes — but the results in the April-June quarter were even weaker than expected.

"It is now clear that the selling season did not materialize this year," said Chief Executive Donald J. Tomnitz. "It is unclear to us when the housing recovery will begin ... we don't see one on the horizon."

Tomnitz blamed tighter mortgage standards, an uptick in interest rates and high prices in some places, especially California, Horton's weakest region.

Horton was pushed to a loss by pretax charges of $852 million that reflect the lower value of land and other holdings, and $426 million in the value of Horton's intangibles, such as brand name.

With the write-down charge, Horton said it lost $823.8 million, or $2.62 per share, in the quarter, compared with a gain of $292.8 million, or 93 cents per share, a year earlier.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial expected losses of 35 cents per share.

Revenue from homebuilding fell to $2.5 billion from $3.6 billion, as the number of homes closed plummeted to 9,643 from 13,377 a year ago.

Analysts said they were stunned by the size of the write-offs, which equaled about 8 percent of Horton's equity.

"The question now and for the next few quarters regarding (Horton) is whether management is just being conservative and taking the 'big bath' now when the homebuilder stocks are getting pummeled anyway ... or if this is a more bearish signal" about the company, analyst Robert Stevenson of Morgan Stanley said in a note to clients.

Stevenson suggested the industry has further to fall.

Tomnitz said sales and prices were stabilizing in Florida and the Northeast.

"We're still struggling in California," Tomnitz added. He said many buyers can't afford housing prices without "unusual" loans that are no longer easy to get, such as mortgages with little or no down payment.