UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-Q

(Mark One)

For the quarterly period ended March 31,June 30, 2012

OR

Commission File No. 1-8951

M.D.C. HOLDINGS, INC.

(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)

(303) 773-1100

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the Registrant was required to file such reports) and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.    Yes  x    No  ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).    Yes  x    No  ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See definition of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).    Yes  ¨    No  x

As of March 31,July 30, 2012, 47,981,40447,993,316 shares of M.D.C. Holdings, Inc. common stock were outstanding.

M.D.C. HOLDINGS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

FORM 10-Q

FOR THE QUARTER ENDED MARCH 31,JUNE 30, 2012

INDEX

(i)

M.D.C. HOLDINGS, INC.

Consolidated Balance Sheets

The accompanying Notes are an integral part of these Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements.

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M.D.C. HOLDINGS, INC.

Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income

The accompanying Notes are an integral part of these Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements.

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M.D.C. HOLDINGS, INC.

Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows

The accompanying Notes are an integral part of these Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements.

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M.D.C. HOLDINGS, INC.

Notes to Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements

The Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements of M.D.C. Holdings, Inc. (“MDC” or the “Company,” which refers to M.D.C. Holdings, Inc. and its subsidiaries) have been prepared, without audit, pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). Accordingly, they do not include all information and footnotes required by U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) for complete financial statements. These statements reflect all normal and recurring adjustments which, in the opinion of management, are necessary to present fairly the financial position, results of operations and cash flows of MDC at March 31,June 30, 2012 and for all periods presented. These statements should be read in conjunction with MDC’s Consolidated Financial Statements and Notes thereto included in MDC’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2011.

Certain prior year amounts in the consolidated financial statements have been reclassified to conform with the 2012 presentation.

Refer to the economic conditions described under the caption “Risk Factors” in Part II, Item 1A of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and “Risk Factors Relating to our Business” in Item 1A of the Company’s December 31, 2011 Annual Report on Form 10-K.

In May 2011, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued ASU 2011-04,Amendments to Achieve Common Fair Value Measurement and Disclosure Requirements in U.S. GAAP and IFRSs, (“ASU 2011-04”). ASU 2011-04 amends ASC 820,Fair Value Measurements, (“ASC 820”), providing a consistent definition and measurement of fair value, as well as similar disclosure requirements between U.S. GAAP and International Financial Reporting Standards. ASU 2011-04 changes certain fair value measurement principles, clarifies the application of existing fair value measurement and expands the ASC 820 disclosure requirements, particularly for Level 3 fair value measurements. ASU 2011-04 was effective for the Company’s interim and annual periods beginning January 1, 2012. The adoption of ASU 2011-04 did not have a material effect on the Company’s consolidated financial position or results of operations for the 2012 first quarter.operations.

In June 2011, the FASB issued ASU 2011-05,Presentation of Comprehensive Income, (“ASU 2011-05”), which improves the comparability, consistency, and transparency of financial reporting and increases the prominence of items reported in other comprehensive income (“OCI”) by eliminating the option to present components of OCI as part of the statement of changes in stockholders’ equity. The amendments in this standard require that all non-owner changes in stockholders’ equity be presented either in a single continuous statement of comprehensive income or in two separate but consecutive statements. The amendments in this standard do not change the items that must be reported in OCI, when an item of OCI must be reclassified to net income, or change the option for an entity to present components of OCI gross or net of the effect of income taxes. The amendments in ASU 2011-05 were effective for our interim and annual periods beginning January 1, 2012 and were applied retrospectively. The adoption of the provisions of ASU 2011-05 in the 2012 first quarter did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial position or results of operations.

In September 2011, the FASB issued an amendment to ASC 350,Intangibles—Goodwill and Other (“ASC 350”), which simplifies how entities test goodwill for impairment. Previous guidance under ASC 350 required an entity to test goodwill for impairment using a two-step process on at least an annual basis. First, the fair value of a reporting unit was calculated and compared to its carrying amount, including goodwill. Second, if the fair value of a reporting unit was less than its carrying amount, the amount of impairment loss, if any, was required to be measured. Under the amendments in this update, an entity has the option to first assess qualitative factors to determine whether the existence of events or circumstances leads the entity to determine that it is more likely than not that its fair value is less than its carrying amount. If, after assessing the totality of events or circumstances, an entity determines that it is not more likely than not that the fair value of the reporting unit is less than its carrying amount, then the two-step impairment test is unnecessary. If the entity concludes otherwise, then it is required to test goodwill for impairment under the two-step process as described under ASC 350. The amendments are effective for us for annual and interim goodwill impairment tests performed for fiscal years beginning January 1, 2012, and early adoption is permitted. We adopted this standard in the 2012 first quarter. The adoption of the provisions of ASC 350 did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial position or results of operations.

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M.D.C. HOLDINGS, INC.

Notes to Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements

The Company’s operating segments are defined as a component of an enterprise for which discrete financial information is available and is reviewed regularly by the chief operating decision-maker, or decision-making group, to evaluate performance and make operating decisions. The Company has identified its chief operating decision-makers (“CODMs”) as two key executives—the Chief Executive Officer and the Chief Operating Officer.

The Company has identified each homebuilding subdivision as an operating segment as each homebuilding subdivision engages in business activities from which it earns revenue, primarily from the sale of single-family detached homes, generally to first-time and first-time move-up homebuyers. Subdivisions in the reportable segments noted below have been aggregated because they are similar in the following regards: (1) economic characteristics; (2) housing products; (3) class of homebuyer; (4) regulatory environments; and (5) methods used to construct and sell homes. The Company’s homebuilding reportable segments are as follows:

The Company’s Financial Services reportable segment consists of the operations of the following operating segments: (1) HomeAmerican Mortgage Corporation (“HomeAmerican”); (2) Allegiant;Allegiant Insurance Company, Inc., A Risk Retention Group (“Allegiant”); (3) StarAmerican;StarAmerican Insurance Ltd. (“StarAmerican”); (4) American Home Insurance Agency, Inc.; and (5) American Home Title and Escrow Company. These operating segments have been aggregated into one reportable segment because they do not individually exceed 10 percent of: (1) consolidated revenue; (2) the greater of (A) the combined reported profit of all operating segments that did not report a loss or (B) the positive value of the combined reported loss of all operating segments that reported losses; or (3) consolidated assets.

Corporate is a non-operating segment that develops and implements strategic initiatives and supports our operating divisions by centralizing key administrative functions such as finance and treasury, information technology, insurance and risk management, litigation and human resources. Corporate also provides the necessary administrative functions to support MDC as a publicly traded company. A portion of the expenses incurred by Corporate are allocated to the homebuilding operating segments based on their respective percentages of assets, and to a lesser degree, a portion of Corporate expenses are allocated to the financial services segment. A majority of Corporate’s personnel and resources are primarily dedicated to activities relating to the homebuilding segments, and, therefore, the balance of any unallocated Corporate expenses is included in the homebuilding segment.

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M.D.C. HOLDINGS, INC.

Notes to Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements

The following table summarizes total assetshome and land sale revenues and homebuilding pretax income (loss) for the Company’s homebuilding operations. Intercompany adjustments noted in the table below relate to loans frommortgage-related costs that were paid by the homebuilding segments to HomeAmerican as a part of home purchase incentives provided to certain homebuyers.

The following table summarizes total assets for the Company’s Financial Services segment to its Corporate segment.homebuilding operations. The assets in the Company’s Corporate segment primarily include cash, cash equivalents, marketable securities and property and equipment, net.

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M.D.C. HOLDINGS, INC.

Notes to Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements

A company that has participating security holders (for example, unvested restricted stock that has nonforfeitablenon-forfeitable dividend rights) is required to utilize the two-class method for purposes of calculating earnings (loss) per share (“EPS”). The two-class method is an allocation of earnings/(loss) between the holders of common stock and a company’s participating security holders. Under the two-class method, earnings/(loss) for the reporting period are allocated between common shareholders and other security holders, based on their respective rights to receive distributed earnings (i.e., dividends) and undistributed earnings (i.e., net income or loss). Currently, the Company has one class of security and has participating security holders consisting of shareholders of unvested restricted stock. The following table shows basic and diluted EPS calculations are shown below.

Diluted EPS includes the dilutive effect of common stock equivalents and is computed using the weighted-average number of common stock and common stock equivalents outstanding during the reporting period. Common stock equivalents include most types of stock options and unvested restricted stock. UnvestedA total of 1.0 million unvested performance-based stock options of 0.3 million were excluded from the calculation of diluted EPS for both the three and six months ended June 30, 2012 as the performance-based conditions were not met at March 31,June 30, 2012. Diluted EPS for the three and six months ended March 31,June 30, 2012 also excluded options to purchase approximately 4.8 million shares and 5.1 million shares, respectively, of common stock because the effect of their inclusion would be anti-dilutive. For the same reason, diluted EPS for both the three and six months ended June 30, 2011 excluded options to purchase approximately 5.05.2 million shares of common stock. In addition, diluted EPS for the three and six months ending June 30, 2011 excluded common stock equivalents because the effect of their inclusion would be anti-dilutive, or would decrease the reported loss per share. Using the treasury stock method, the weighted-average common stock equivalents included inexcluded from diluted EPS was 0.30.4 million shares duringfor both the three and six months ended March 31, 2012.

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M.D.C. HOLDINGS, INC.

Notes to Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements

Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) ASC 820 “Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures” (“ASC 820”), as updated and amended by ASU 2011-04, defines fair value, establishes guidelines for measuring fair value and expands disclosures regarding fair value measurements. ASC 820 establishes a three-tier fair value hierarchy, which prioritizes the inputs used in measuring fair value. These tiers include: Level 1, defined as observable inputs such as quoted prices in active markets; Level 2, defined as inputs other than quoted prices in active markets that are either directly or indirectly observable; and Level 3, defined as unobservable inputs for which little or no market data exists, therefore requiring an entity to develop its own assumptions.

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M.D.C. HOLDINGS, INC.

Notes to Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements

The following table sets forth the fair values and methods used for measuring the fair values of financial instruments on a recurring basis:

The following methods and assumptions were used to estimate the fair value of each class of financial instruments.

Cash and Cash Equivalents. For cash and cash equivalents, the fair value approximates carrying value.

Marketable Securities. The Company’s marketable securities consist of fixed rate and floating rate interest earning securities, primarily: (1) debt securities, which may include, among others, United States government and government agency debt and corporate debt; (2) holdings in mutual fund equity securities and (3) deposit securities, which may include, among others, certificates of deposit and time deposits. As of March 31,June 30, 2012 and December 31, 2011, all of the Company’s marketable securities were treated as available-for-sale investments and, as such, the Company has recorded all of its marketable securities at fair value with changes in fair value being recorded as a component of accumulated other comprehensive income.

The following tables set forth the amortized cost and estimated fair value of the Company’s available-for-sale marketable securities. The fair values of the Company’s equity securities are based upon Level 1 inputs, and the fair values of the Company’s debt securities are based on Level 2 inputs.

As of March 31,June 30, 2012 and December 31, 2011, the Company’s marketable securities (homebuilding and financial services in aggregate) were in an unrealized loss position of $0.7$1.4 million and $7.2 million, respectively. The equity securities, which consist of threefour mutual fund accounts andfunds which primarily invest in bonds, have a combined unrealized loss of $4.3$4.9 million as of March 31, 2012, have been in this position for less than 12 months.June 30, 2012. Management currently does not have the intent to sell any of its securities that are currently in an unrealized loss position, and it is currently not likely that the Company will be required to sell these marketable securities before the recovery of their cost basis. Additionally, due to the short period of time that the Company’s marketable securities have been in an unrealized loss position, and that the decline in market value occurred during a period of overall decline in market values, the decline is believed to be temporary.

Mortgage Loans Held-for-Sale, Net. As of March 31,June 30, 2012, the primary components of the Company’s mortgage loans held-for-sale that are measured at fair value on a recurring basis are: (1) mortgage loans held-for-sale under commitments to sell; and (2) mortgage loans held-for-sale not under commitments to sell. At March 31,June 30, 2012 and December 31, 2011, the Company had $46.5$61.0 million and $77.5 million, respectively, of mortgage loans held-for-sale under commitments to sell for which fair value was based upon a Level 2 input beinginputs, which were the quoted market prices for those mortgage loans. At March 31,June 30, 2012 and December 31, 2011, the Company had $8.5$4.7 million and $0.8 million, respectively, of mortgage loans held-for-sale that were not under commitments to sell, and as such, the fair value was based upon Level 2 fair value inputs, primarily the estimated market price received from an outside party.

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M.D.C. HOLDINGS, INC.

Notes to Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements

Inventories. The Company’s inventories consist of housing completed or under construction and land and land under development. The Company’s inventories are primarily associated with subdivisions where the Company intends to construct and sell homes on the land, including model and unsold started homes. Components of housing completed or under construction primarily include: (1) land costs transferred from land and land under development; (2) hard costs associated with the construction of a house; (3) overhead costs, which include real property taxes, engineering fees and permits and fees; (4) capitalized interest; and (5) indirect construction costs. Land costs are transferred from land and land under development to housing completed or under construction at the point in time that the Company begins construction of a home on an owned lot. Costs capitalized to land and land under development primarily include: (1) land costs; (2) development costs for the land; (3) entitlement costs; (4) capitalized interest; and (5) title insurance, taxes and closing costs directly related to the purchase of the land parcel.

Homebuilding inventories are carried at cost unless events and circumstances indicate that the carrying value of the underlying subdivision may not be recoverable. The Company determines impairments on a subdivision level basis as each such subdivision represents the lowest level of identifiable cash flows. In making this determination, the Company reviews, among other things, the following for each subdivision:

If events or circumstances indicate that the carrying value of the Company’s inventory may not be recoverable, assets are reviewed for impairment by comparing the undiscounted estimated future cash flows from an individual subdivision to its carrying value. If the undiscounted future cash flows are less than the subdivision’s carrying value, the carrying value of the subdivision is written down to its then estimated fair value. The Company generally determines the estimated fair value of each subdivision by determining the present value of the estimated future cash flows at discount rates that are commensurate with the risk of the subdivision under evaluation. For both the three months and six months ended March 31,June 30, 2011, the Company recognized inventory impairment charges of $0.3$8.6 million. The discount rates used in the Company’s estimated discounted cash flows ranged from 13%12% to 18% during the 2011 first quarter.three months and six months ended June 30, 2011. The Company did not record any inventory impairments during the three and six months ended March 31,June 30, 2012.

Related Party Assets. Related party assets are included in prepaid expenses and other assets in the Company’s Consolidated Balance Sheets. The Company’s related party assets are debt security bonds that it acquired from a quasi-municipal corporation in the state of Colorado. The Company has estimated the fair value of the related party assets based upon discounted cash flows as the Company does not believe there is a readily available market for such assets. The estimated cash flows from the bonds are ultimately based upon the Company’s estimated cash flows associated with the building, selling and closing of homes in one of its Colorado subdivisions. The estimated fair values of these assets are based upon Level 3 cash flow inputs. Based upon this evaluation, the estimated fair value of the related party assets approximates its carrying value.

Mortgage Repurchase Facility. The Company’s Mortgage Repurchase Facility is at floating rates or at fixed rates that approximate current market rates and have relatively short-term maturities. The fair value approximates carrying value.

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M.D.C. HOLDINGS, INC.

Notes to Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements

Senior Notes: The estimated values of the senior notes in the following table are based on Level 2 inputs, including market prices of bonds in the homebuilding sector.

The following table sets forth, by reportable segment, information relating to our homebuilding inventories:

In accordance with ASC Topic 360, Property, Plant, and Equipment (“ASC 360”), homebuilding inventories are carried at cost unless events and circumstances indicate that the carrying value of the underlying subdivision may not be recoverable. The Company evaluates its inventories for impairment at each quarter end. Please see “Inventories” in Note 5 for more detail on the methods and assumptions that were used to estimate the fair value of the Company’s inventories. Based on the impairment review, we did not record any inventory impairments during the three and six months ended June 30, 2012.

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M.D.C. HOLDINGS, INC.

Notes to Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements

The inventory impairments recognized for the three and six months ended June 30, 2011 are shown in the table below:

The inventory impairments recorded during the three and six months ended June 30, 2011 resulted from a decline in the market value of land and homes primarily in our California, Nevada and Utah markets.

The Company capitalizes interest on its senior notes associated with its qualified assets, which includes land and land under development that is actively being developed, and homes under construction through the completion of construction. When construction of aan unsold home is complete, such home is no longer considered to be a qualified asset and interest is no longer capitalized on that home. The Company expensed $0.8no interest for the three and six months ended June 30, 2012 and expensed $7.4 million and $8.7$16.1 million of interest primarily associated with interest incurred on its homebuilding debt during the three and six months ended March 31, 2012 andJune 30, 2011, respectively. The table set forth below summarizes homebuilding interest activity.

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M.D.C. HOLDINGS, INC.

Notes to Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements

The following table sets forth the information relating to prepaid expenses and other assets.

- 9 -

M.D.C. HOLDINGS, INC.

Notes to Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements

The following table sets forth information relating to accrued liabilities.

The Company records expenses and warranty accruals for general and structural warranty claims, as well as reserves for known, unusual warranty-related expenditures. The Company’s management estimates the warranty reserves based on the Company’s trends in historical warranty payment levels and warranty payments for claims not considered to be normal and recurring. Warranty payments incurred for an individual house may differ from the related accrual established for the home at the time it was closed. The actual disbursements for warranty claims are evaluated in the aggregate. The table set forth below summarizes warranty accrual activity for the three and six months ended March 31,June 30, 2012 and 2011.

Cash

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M.D.C. HOLDINGS, INC.

Notes to Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements

The cash payments for the six months ended June 30, 2012 first quarter includes an offset comprisedare shown net of $1.3 million of cashreimbursements received from a third party vendor during the 2012 first quarter for amounts that were originallyor will be paid from the Company’s warranty reserves. Excluding the reimbursement, cash payments for the six months ended June 30, 2012 were significantly higher than the previous year primarily due to payments made on a specific warranty reserve related to several subdivisions in the Texas market, which we exited in 2006.

During the three and six months ended June 30, 2011, we experienced lower warranty payments on previously closed homes as compared to the prior year periods. We believe the lower warranty payment experience rate in the 2011 periods were driven by, among other things, tighter focus and controls over our warranty expenditures, a significant drop in sales volumes over the last several years, which resulted in fewer homes under warranty, and better quality controls and construction practices. As a result of favorable warranty payment experience relative to our estimates at the time of home closing, partially offset by increases in specific warranty reserves established for warranty-related issues in a limited number of subdivisions, we recorded adjustments to reduce our warranty reserve by $1.8 million and $2.3 million for the three and six months ended June 30, 2011, respectively.

The Company records expenses and liabilities for losses and loss adjustment expenses for claims associated with: (1) insurance policies with Allegiant Insurance Company, Inc., A Risk Retention Group (“Allegiant”) and re-insurance agreements issued by StarAmerican Insurance Ltd. (“StarAmerican”);StarAmerican; (2) self-insurance, including workers compensation; and (3) deductible amounts under the Company’s insurance policies. The establishment of the provisions for outstanding losses and loss adjustment expenses is based on actuarial studies that include known facts and interpretations of circumstances, including the Company’s experience with similar cases and historical trends involving claim payment patterns, pending levels of unpaid claims, product mix or concentration, claim severity, frequency patterns such as those caused by natural disasters, fires, or accidents, depending on the business conducted, and changing regulatory and legal environments.

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M.D.C. HOLDINGS, INC.

Notes to Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements

The table set forth below summarizes the insurance reserve activity for the three and six months ended March 31,June 30, 2012 and 2011. The insurance reserve is included in accounts payable and accrued liabilities in the Financial Services segment of the accompanying balance sheets.

In the ordinary course of business, the Company makes payments from its insurance reserves to settle litigation claims arising primarily from its homebuilding activities. These payments are irregular in both their timing and their magnitude. As a result, the $6.2 million in cash payments shown for the three and six months ended June 30, 2012 first quarter are not necessarily indicative of what future cash payments will be for any subsequent quarter.periods.

The Company is required, at the end of each interim period, to estimate its annual effective tax rate for the fiscal year and use that rate to provide for income taxes for the current year-to-date reporting period. Due to the effects of the deferred tax valuation allowance and changes in unrecognized tax benefits, the Company’s effective tax rates in 2012 and 2011 are not meaningful as the income tax benefit is not directly correlated to the amount of pretax income or loss. The income tax benefitbenefits of $0.1$1.0 million and $1.1 million during the three and six months ended March 31,June 30, 2012, was not material to our results of operations. The Company’s income tax benefit of $3.8 million during the three months ended March 31, 2011respectively, resulted primarily from ourthe release of reserves related to settlements with various taxing authorities. The income tax benefits of $1.8 million and $5.6 million for the three and six months ended June 30, 2011, respectively, resulted primarily from the Company’s 2011 second quarter settlement of various state income tax matters and the Company’s 2011 first quarter settlement with the IRS on the audit of ourits 2004 and 2005 federal income tax returns.

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M.D.C. HOLDINGS, INC.

Notes to Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements

Deferred income taxes reflect the net tax effects of temporary differences between the carrying amounts of the assets and liabilities for financial reporting purposes and the amounts used for income tax purposes. The decrease in the Company’s total deferred tax asset at March 31, 2012 (per the table below) resulted primarily from a decrease in the Company’s unrealized loss on marketable securities.

A valuation allowance is recorded against a deferred tax asset if, based on the weight of available evidence, it is more-likely-than-not (a likelihood of more than 50%) that some portion, or all, of the deferred tax asset will not be realized. At March 31,June 30, 2012 and December 31, 2011, the Company had a full valuation allowance recorded against its net deferred tax assets.asset. The Company’s future realization of its deferred tax assets ultimately depends upon the existence of sufficient taxable income in the carryback or carryforward periods under the tax laws. The Company will continue analyzing, in subsequent reporting periods, the positive and negative evidence in determining the expected realization of its deferred tax assets.

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M.D.C. HOLDINGS, INC.

Notes to Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements

The tax effectscomponents of significant temporary differences that give rise to theour net deferred tax asset are as follows.