By Ilaina Jonas

NEW YORK (Reuters) - D.R. Horton Inc (DHI.N: Quote, Profile, Research), the largest U.S. home builder, halved its dividend and posted a quarterly loss of $1.3 billion on Tuesday as it wrote down the value of its land and unsold homes after cutting prices and sweetening incentives to boost sales.

But shares of D.R. Horton and other home builders finished significantly higher following cautiously optimistic statements from D.R. Horton and U.S. home financing provider Fannie Mae.

D.R. Horton stock ended the day up 5.5 percent, while Centex Corp CTX.N closed 4.8 percent higher, and Beazer Homes USA Inc (BZH.N: Quote, Profile, Research) rose 4.6 percent.

D.R. Horton's aggressive selling came at the expense of profitability as the company reported an operating loss, and also led to charges as the lower prices translated to lower values of land and inventory still on its books in many markets.

Home sales fell by a third, and orders declined by nearly 25 percent as the slump in the housing market took a toll.

The loss amounted to $4.14 per share for the fiscal second quarter ended March 31, compared with a year-earlier profit of $51.7 million, or 16 cents per share.

Home-building revenue fell 40 percent to $1.62 billion. The company closed on the sale of 6,719 homes in the quarter, down 31.4 percent from a year earlier. The average selling price fell 7.7 percent to $237,803.

Gross margins fell to 9.4 percent from 17.7 percent a year earlier, with 5.7 percentage points evaporating from more liberal use of incentives, the company said.