Meritage Homes Corporation Names New Rocky Mountain Region President

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., May 8, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH), a leading U.S. homebuilder, today announced the appointment of Liesel Cooper as Rocky Mountain Region President, reporting to Steven J. Hilton, chairman and chief executive officer of Meritage. In her new role, Ms. Cooper will oversee the Company's Meritage, Monterey and Metropolitan divisions in Colorado and Arizona, and will be based in the Company's headquarters in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Ms. Cooper brings to Meritage over 21 years of experience in the homebuilding industry, having worked in many functional areas including operations, construction, product development, project analysis, sales, marketing and merchandising. She was most recently President of National Homebuilding Operations for another large public homebuilder, where she led 25 divisions in six regions across 13 states. She was also responsible for establishing and overseeing best practices in operations, including the implementation of a new customer experience initiative to improve overall homebuyer satisfaction.

"Liesel's broad range of experience and her track record of great results should add tremendous value to the Rocky Mountain Region and our leadership team, as we continue to build on our success and develop an even stronger presence in these markets," said Mr. Hilton.

About Meritage Homes Corporation

Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH) is a leader in the homebuilding industry. The Company is ranked by Builder magazine as the 13th largest homebuilder in the U.S. and was selected in 2006 for the fourth consecutive year to Forbes' "Platinum 400 - Best-Managed Big Companies in America." Meritage is in the S&P SmallCap 600 Index, ranks #580 on the 2007 Fortune 1000 list and has appeared on Fortune's "Fastest Growing Companies in America" list in six of the last eight years. Meritage operates in many of the dominant homebuilding markets of the southern and western United States, including six of the top 10 single-family housing markets in the country, and has reported 19 consecutive years of record revenue through 2006. For more information about the Company, visit www.meritagehomes.com. Meritage is a member of the Public Home Builders Council of America (www.phbca.org).

The Meritage Homes Corporation logo is available at http://www.primezone.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=2624

CONTACT:  Meritage Homes Corporation
          Investor Relations:
          Brent Anderson, Director Investor Relations
            (972) 543-8207
          Corporate Communications:
          Jane Hays, Vice President-Corp. Develop.
            (972) 543-8123

Released May 8, 2007