Hovnanian Enterprise’s headquarters in Red Bank. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

Hovnanian Enterprises posted net earnings of $17.1 million in its third fiscal quarter, more than doubling the $8.5 million net in the comparable 2013 period, the Red Bank-based homebuilder reported Thursday.

Citing “the early stages of a recovery” for the housing industry, and “assuming no change in current market conditions,” the compaany expects to wrap up the year with a profit, president and CEO Ara Hovnanian said in a statement.

Revenue in the quarter rose 15 percent, to $551 million.

In the first nine months of the current fiscal year, the company has posted net losses totalling $15.3 million, up from losses of $10.2 a year ago, Hovnanian said.

Hovnanian’s deliveries of completed homes rose 3.1 in the quarter, and the period ended with a contract backlog of $1.03 billion, up 14 percent from a year earlier, according to MarketWatch.