UPDATE 1-Toll shares rise as Q4 net contracts up 42 pct

* "Fits and starts" will mark improvement

* Homebuyers still fretting over jobs, economy

* Toll shares up 16.5 percent, other homebuilders also up

By Aarthi Sivaraman

SEATTLE, Nov 11 (Reuters) - The slump in the housing market ended around March, and while there is improvement, it will be slow and fitful, U.S. luxury homebuilder Toll Brothers Inc's (TOL.N) Chief Executive Robert Toll said on Wednesday.

The housing market slump, "we now believe, ended approximately in March 2009," Toll said in a conference call, following its preliminary fourth quarter results a day earlier. "Basically, we think we're working our way out of it. It will come in fits and starts."

Toll Brothers said late Tuesday it expected fourth-quarter revenue to drop 30 percent, but that was still higher than Wall Street's expectations, and its shares rose nearly 6 percent after markets closed.

The largest U.S. builder of luxury homes and apartments also said fourth-quarter net contracts rose 42 percent to 765 units, or 62 percent to $430.8 million -- yet another positive sign for the housing market, which has been showing signs of improvement. [ID:nN10336909]

Other homebuilders also rose after Toll Brothers' results. Lennar Corp (LEN.N) rose 6.4 percent,Pulte Homes Inc (PHM.N) was up 9 percent, KB Home (KBH.N) rose 6.3 percent and DR Horton Inc (DHI.N) was up 6 percent.