UPDATE 2-Meritage quarterly loss narrows

* Q1 loss 60 cents per share

* Home closing revenue fell 38 pct

* Says acquiring deeply discounted lots

* Shares down 0.8 pct at close, before results
(Adds CEO comment, share price, other details)

NEW YORK, April 27 (Reuters) - Meritage Homes Corp's (MTH.N)
first-quarter net loss narrowed as charges to write down the
value of land declined.

The homebuilder reported a net loss of $18.4 million, or 60
cents per share, compared with a year-ago loss of $45.3 million
million, or $1.72 per share.

The results included $10 million in real estate valuation
charges, 83 percent lower than the $60 million taken in the
year-ago quarter.

Home-closing revenue fell 38 percent to $231 million.

Meritage has capitalized on its outsized exposure to the
relatively healthy Texas market to endure the U.S. housing
market slump, now on the cusp of its third year.

Triggered initially by rampant risky lending and speculation
that led to widespread oversupply and exacerbated more recently
by the recession, the downturn has forced a 29 percent
correction in prices in 20 metropolitan areas from their 2006
peak, according to the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index.

About 65 percent of Meritage's active communities are
concentrated in Texas, according to data from analyst Carl
Reichardt of Wachovia Capital Markets LLC.

As in most other major housing markets, unemployment is
putting pressure on new home sales and prices in Texas. But in
part because the state's job market is still comparatively
strong, median home prices are nonetheless holding up better
than the national average, Raymond James analyst Buck Horne
wrote in a regional market update on Monday.

"The relative strength of the Texas market has greatly
benefited Meritage during this downturn," Chief Executive Steven
Hilton said in a statement.

The Scottsdale, Arizona-based builder also said it had begun
to acquire deeply discounted land where it had seen an increase
in entry-level homebuyer activity.

Meritage shares edged down 14 cents or 0.8 percent during
regular trading hours on the New York Stock Exchange on Monday.
(Reporting by Helen Chernikoff; editing by Carol Bishopric and
Matthew Lewis)