There’s still money in home building

The chief executive of struggling housing developer KB Home Corp., Jeffrey T. Mezger, received more than $9.6 million in compensation in fiscal 2008, the Westwood company said Friday.KB Home, California’s largest home builder, lost nearly $1 billion last year as the industry was battered by a glut of foreclosed homes that undercut the prices of new residences and shrank demand. Buyers were also discouraged by the reeling economy and challenges finding loans. Mezger’s compensation was a 41% cut from the nearly $16.4 million he was paid in fiscal 2007, according to a proxy filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.... Richard Ferlauto, director of corporate governance and pension investment for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, said Mezger’s compensation was too generous and an example of how some corporate executives were overpaid.’Historically, this company has figured out a way to line the pockets of its already super-rich executives,’ Ferlauto said of KB Home. ‘The pay package just shows the continuing deaf ear that compensation committees have to their shareholders and it indicates the degree to which the U.S. compensation model is broken.’KB Home shares lost about 42% of their value during fiscal 2008. The shares dropped 64 cents, or 6.7%, to $8.90 Friday.