Press Releases

Hovnanian Enterprises Selected to Fortune’s List of 100 Fastest-Growing Companies for Fourth Consecutive Year

August 31, 2005

Hovnanian Enterprises, Inc. has been recognized by FORTUNE magazine as one of the 100 fastest-growing companies in the U.S. for a fourth consecutive year. Only three other companies share Hovnanian’s elite status of being on the list for at least four consecutive years.

On the recently published 2005 list, Hovnanian Enterprises, Inc. ranked 64th overall. The Company ranked 35th based on total return to investors with a three-year annualized return of 54%. Hovnanian’s annualized growth in revenue and earnings per share for the past three years were 32% and 68%, respectively. To compute the rankings, Fortune used data from Zacks Investment Research and gave equal weight to each of the three factors.  The complete list appears in the September 5, 2005 issue of FORTUNE.

"We are extremely pleased to be included for the fourth consecutive year on FORTUNE’s list of the 100 fastest growing companies,” said Ara K. Hovnanian, President and Chief Executive Officer. “We continue to expand our geographic footprint and our product offering, while we remain focused on prudent management of our balance sheet and our associates continue to focus on delivering excellent customer service."

Hovnanian Enterprises, Inc., founded in 1959 by Kevork S. Hovnanian, Chairman, is headquartered in Red Bank, New Jersey. The Company is one of the nation’s largest homebuilders with operations in Arizona, California, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia. The Company’s homes are marketed and sold under the trade names K. Hovnanian Homes, Goodman Homes, Matzel & Mumford, Diamond Homes, Westminster Homes, Forecast Homes, Parkside Homes, Brighton Homes, Parkwood Builders, Great Western Homes, Windward Homes, Cambridge Homes, Town & Country Homes, Oster Homes and First Home Builders of Florida. As the developer of K. Hovnanian’s Four Seasons communities, the Company is also one of the nation’s largest builders of active adult homes.

Additional information on Hovnanian Enterprises, Inc., including a summary investment profile and the Company’s 2004 annual report, can be accessed through the Investor Relations page of the Hovnanian website at http://www.khov.com. To be added to Hovnanian's investor e-mail or fax lists, please send an e-mail to IR@khov.com or sign up at http://www.khov.com.

Note: All statements in this Press Release that are not historical facts should be considered as "forward looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such risks, uncertainties and other factors include, but are not limited to, (1) changes in general and local economic and business conditions, (2) weather conditions, (3) changes in market conditions, (4) changes in home prices and sales activity in the markets where the Company builds homes, (5) government regulation, including regulations concerning development of land, the homebuilding process and the environment, (6) fluctuations in interest rates and the availability of mortgage financing, (7) shortages in and price flctuations of raw materials and labor, (8) the availability and cost of suitable land and improved lots, (9) levels of competition, (10) availability of financing to the Company, (11) utility shortages and outages or rate fluctuations, (12) geopolitical risks, terrorist acts and other acts of war and (13) other factors described in detail in the Company's Form 10-K for the year ended October 31, 2004.