REAL ESTATE

Kaufman & Broad 3rd-Quarter Earnings Nearly Double: The Los Angeles-based home builder said profit rose 94% in the quarter compared with the year-ago period. Kaufman & Broad Home Corp. said third-quarter earnings were $13.3 million, or 33 cents per share, compared with $6.9 million, or 17 cents, a year earlier. The earnings were slightly ahead of analysts’ expectations of 31 cents per share. Chairman and Chief Executive Bruce Karatz said he attributed the results in part to expansion outside California and aggressive debt reduction. Deliveries of completed housing rose 30.2% in the quarter compared with a year ago, but most of that improvement was due to its $110-million acquisition of San Antonio-based developer Rayco Ltd. Kaufman & Broad is the largest home builder in the West and has operations in seven states and Mexico and France.