C. Cone
Analyst · a question
Thanks, Sheryl, and hello, everyone. Today, I will be reviewing our financial results for the first quarter of 2013 and providing guidance for the second quarter and the year. As a reminder, the first quarter results reflect the operations of our subsidiaries, Taylor Morrison Communities and Monarch Communities, without giving effect to the IPO which occurred in our second quarter.
For the quarter, net income increased 136% to $24.3 million from $10.3 million for the same period last year. Net sales orders totaled 1,681 units, representing a 52% increase when compared to the same quarter a year ago. Net sales orders in our U.S. operations improved 68% to 1,549 units while our Canadian operations add 132 net sales orders, down 29% compared to the first quarter of 2012.
This decline in part was the result of no new towers started that can generate significant new orders for the company in the first quarter of 2013. Also over the last few years, we capitalized on our Canadian business to increase our overall company earnings. While we were successful in driving the Canadian business, these efforts left us with limited product to sell in Canada. Moderation was expected in our Canadian markets as the result.
The company's cancellation rate was 11% for both the first quarter of 2012 and 2013. We finished the quarter with an increasingly robust backlog of 3,872 homes. Total backlog at quarter end was valued at $1.4 billion. On a year-over-year basis, this represents an increase of 45% in units and 61% in backlog value with nearly an 11% increase in average selling price. Community absorptions increased to 3.4 per month as compared to 3 in the first quarter of last year. Our average community count increased to 167 from 124 in the first quarter of 2012, primarily due to our recent Darling Homes acquisition.
Total revenue for the quarter was $381.5 million, an increase of over 59% compared to $239.4 million in the first quarter of last year. Home closing revenue was $366.8 million for the quarter, a 66% improvement. The increase was driven by a 63% increase in homes closed to 1,012 during the quarter, coupled with a 1.9% increase in average selling price.
In the U.S., home closing revenue increased 118%, closed units increased 96%, while the average selling price increased 11% to $354,000. In Canada, home closing revenue declined 38%. Canadian closed units declined 34% and average selling price was down 6% to $435,000, as we previously sold out of higher-priced communities that contributed to the last year's higher average sales price. Breaking down the mix of closed homes this quarter, 54% were from the East region, 36% were from the West and 10% were from Canada.
Closed home gross margins improved to 21.2% during the quarter, 360 basis points higher than the same quarter a year ago. Adjusted gross profit margin on home closings, excluding interest expense, in the first quarter of 2013 improved to 23.4% compared to 20% for the first quarter of 2012. The improvement was driven by a combination of mix and overall price appreciation, as we were able to stay ahead of cost increases. In fact, over 85% of our U.S. communities had price increases during the quarter.
SG&A expense was $46.3 million or 12.6% of home closing revenue for the first quarter of 2013 compared to 14.7% in the first quarter of last year. We continue to focus on this metric as maximizing overhead efficiency is one of our key strengths in driving higher operating profit. Income before taxes for the first quarter of 2013 was $39.9 million compared to $16.1 million for the same quarter last year. Our income tax expense for the quarter was $15.5 million.
Turning to the balance sheet. We ended the quarter with $251 million of cash, including $13 million of restricted cash. As you know, we've successfully launched our IPO on April 12 and sold 28.6 million shares at $22 per share for a total of $629 million. Subsequent to the offering, the underwriters exercised their overallotment option of 4.3 million shares at $22 per share for $94 million. We used approximately $204 million to redeem $190 million of our 7.75% senior notes due 2020. The remainder of the IPO proceeds were used to purchase equity interest from our sponsors and pay related IPO fees.
Concurrent with the IPO, we entered into a new $400 million unsecured revolving credit facility maturing in 2017, replacing our existing $225 million secured revolving credit facility. In addition, we issued $550 million of 8-year senior notes at a much reduced rate of 5.25%, the proceeds of which will be used to fund future growth and general corporate purposes.
We ended the quarter with homebuilding inventories of 1.7 billion. We had 3,578 homes in inventory compared to 2,540 homes at the end of the prior year quarter. Homes in inventory at the end of the quarter consisted of 2,790 sold units, 207 model homes and 581 spec units. This increase in inventory is consistent with the increases in sales and backlog resulting from higher demand for our homes. As for financial services, Taylor Morrison home funding and title services generated $5.9 million of revenue and $2.4 million of gross profit for the quarter, reflecting increases in mortgage loan originations quarter-over-quarter.
Before I provide guidance, please note that this guidance reflects the new public entity, which became effective April 12. For the second quarter, we anticipate closings to increase by 45% to 50% quarter-over-quarter. In addition, community count is expected to increase slightly quarter-over-quarter. Income from unconsolidated joint ventures is anticipated to be between $7 million and $9 million, reflecting the closings in our JV tower, Couture.
As previously disclosed, we expect to incur certain charges related to the IPO and the redemption of senior notes of approximately $115 million in the second quarter. These include a $7 million loss on early extinguishment of debt related to the redemption of a portion of our existing 7.75% notes, $29 million for the termination of the management agreement with our sponsors and a $79 million noncash charge associated with the reorganization of our equity partnership.
For all of 2013, we anticipate our community count and closings to increase by 50% and gross margins to be accretive from 2012. SG&A as a percent of homebuilding revenue is anticipated to be consistent with last year and income from unconsolidated joint ventures to be between $35 million and $40 million. In addition, the charges related to the IPO and the redemption of the senior notes in Q2 will have the same dollar impact for the full year.
Thanks. And I'll now turn the call back to Sheryl.