D.R. Horton Inc. says it lost money in its fiscal first quarter, reversing a year-ago profit, as the housing market continued to struggle.

The homebuilder closed on fewer houses and revenue fell by nearly one-third.

The company said Thursday it lost $20.4 million, or 6 cents per share, in the three months ended Dec. 31. That compares with a profit of $192 million, or 56 cents a share, in the prior-year period, when the company got a one-time tax benefit of $149.2 million.

Revenue plunged 31 percent to $767 million from $1.11 billion.

The latest loss included $8.4 million in pretax charges covering write-downs. Analysts polled by FactSet were expecting a loss of 3 cents a share on revenue of about $777.2 million.

The company closed on 3,637 homes, down from 5,529 a year earlier. Orders for the quarter fell 17 percent to 3,363 homes.