D.R. Horton recorded narrower -- but still significant -- losses in the third quarter. The home builder, one of the largest in the United States, lost $399.3 million in the period, compared with $823.8 million in losses in the same period last year.

The company took a $500 million charge for write-offs and folded land options contracts. In all, revenue from home and lot sales totaled $1.43 billion, down 43.9 percent from $2.55 billion in the same period.

“Although market conditions in the home-building industry remain challenging, we continue to focus on reducing our inventory and generating cash flow from operations,” said Donald R. Horton, chairman of the company’s board of directors, in a statement.

The company’s sales backlog of homes under contract as of June 30 was 8,281 homes, worth an estimated $1.9 billion. That’s significantly lower than the 15,801, worth around $4.4 billion, at the same time last year.

D.R. Horton has operations in 80 markets in 27 states.