June 16 (Reuters) -

Lennar's ( LEN ) second-quarter revenue beat Wall Street

estimates on Monday, as its incentives for home buyers lifted

sales.

Shares of the U.S. homebuilder rose 2.3% after the bell.

Lennar ( LEN ) has used mortgage rate buydowns, price cuts and cost

adjustments to maintain its sales pace during the quarter,

offsetting the impact of rising mortgage rates and economic

uncertainty.

"As mortgage interest rates remained higher and consumer

confidence continued to weaken, we drove volume with starts

while incentivizing sales to enable affordability and help

consumers to purchase homes," said co-CEO Stuart Miller.

Lennar ( LEN ) posted second quarter revenue of $8.38 billion, above

analysts' estimate of $8.16 billion, according to data compiled

by LSEG.

However, its average sales price of $389,000 declined from

$408,000 in the first quarter and was lower than $426,000 a year

earlier, as affordability for home buyers remains an issue.

As a result, second quarter profit of $1.81 per share

nearly halved from $3.45 a year earlier.

Lennar ( LEN ) delivered 20,131 homes during the quarter ended May

31, above 19,690 units a year earlier, and in line with its own

forecast of 19,500 to 20,500 homes.

The Miami, Florida-based company reported home sales gross

margins of 18% in the second quarter, in line with its forecast.

In the upcoming quarter, Lennar ( LEN ) expects gross margin to remain

at 18%.

The homebuilder expects to deliver 22,000 to 23,000 homes in

the third quarter, compared with analysts' average estimate of

23,174 homes.