PulteGroup Inc. reported net income of $273.2 million, or 83 cents per share, for the fourth quarter of 2016, up from $228 million, or 64 cents per share in the year-ago period.

The S&P Capital IQ consensus estimate for EPS for the fourth quarter of 2016 was 59 cents.

The homebuilder noted that its results included 16 cents per share of insurance and income tax benefits, compared to the year-ago benefits of 7 cents per share associated with the reversal of certain mortgage and insurance reserves.

Home sale revenue for the quarter came in at $2.42 billion, marking a 21% increase from year-ago revenue of approximately $2 billion. The rise in home sale revenue was attributed to a 9% increase in closings to 6,197 homes, along with an 11% increase in average selling price to $391,000.

The company had a year-end backlog of 7,422 homes valued at $2.94 billion, up from the previous year-end backlog of 6,731 homes valued at $2.46 billion. The average selling price in backlog rose 9% from the previous year to $396,000.

Net new orders in the fourth quarter increased 15% year over year to 4,202 homes, and the dollar value of fourth-quarter orders jumped 22% on the year to $1.67 billion.

The company was active in 726 communities at 2016-end, marking a 17% increase from the corresponding year-ago period.