Homebuilder Lennar Corp (LEN.N) posted a 31 percent drop in quarterly profit on fewer new home deliveries and higher costs.

June-August net income attributable to Lennar fell to $20.7 million, or 11 cents a share, from $30 million, or 16 cents a share, a year ago.

Lennar, which is the third-largest U.S. builder valued at about $2.47 billion, posted a slight drop in quarterly revenue at $820.2 million.

Analysts on average were expecting the company to earn 10 cents a share, before special items, on revenue of $820.6 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

New home deliveries, excluding unconsolidated entities, dropped to 2,832 homes from 2,909 in the year-ago period.

Selling, general and administrative expenses rose 3 percent to $100.3 million.

We have seen demand for home purchases slowly return to the marketplace, driven by low home prices and all-time low interest rates, Lennar's Chief Executive Stuart Miller said.

Last month, UBS said the slump in the new home market has reached its nadir and there are unlikely to be further declines in sales and pricing over the second half of the year.

Shares of the Miami-based Lennar, which builds homes in Florida, California and other states, closed at $13.80 on Friday on the New Yor

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