Debt

Our senior notes are summarized as follows ($000’s omitted):



	June 30, 2012		December 31, 2011
5.45% unsecured senior notes due August 2012 (b)	$	96,473	$	96,795
6.25% unsecured senior notes due February 2013 (b)	62,707		62,677
5.125% unsecured senior notes due October 2013 (b)	117,848		117,197
5.25% unsecured senior notes due January 2014 (b)	255,891		255,882
5.70% unsecured senior notes due May 2014 (b)	313,325		311,900
5.20% unsecured senior notes due February 2015 (b)	207,926		207,906
5.25% unsecured senior notes due June 2015 (b)	272,563		270,551
6.50% unsecured senior notes due May 2016 (b)	470,400		469,147
7.625% unsecured senior notes due October 2017 (a)	149,427		149,373
7.875% unsecured senior notes due June 2032 (b)	299,130		299,108
6.375% unsecured senior notes due May 2033 (b)	398,455		398,418
6.00% unsecured senior notes due February 2035 (b)	299,403		299,390
7.375% unsecured senior notes due June 2046 (b)	150,000		150,000
Total senior notes – carrying value (c)	$	3,093,548	$	3,088,344
Estimated fair value	$	3,065,872	$	2,765,151


(a)	Not redeemable prior to maturity; guaranteed on a senior basis by certain wholly-owned subsidiaries.


(b)	Redeemable prior to maturity; guaranteed on a senior basis by certain wholly-owned subsidiaries.


(c)	The recorded carrying value reflects the impact of various discounts and premiums that are amortized to interest cost over the respective terms of the senior notes.

Debt retirement

During the three months ended June 30, 2011, we retired prior to their stated maturity dates $53.0 million of senior notes. We recorded losses related to these transactions totaling $3.5 million for the three and six months ended June 30, 2011, which are reflected in other expense (income), net. Losses on these transactions included the write-off of unamortized discounts, premiums, and transaction fees. There were no debt repurchases during the three or six months ended June 30, 2012.

Letter of credit facilities

We maintain separate cash-collateralized letter of credit agreements with a number of financial institutions. Letters of credit totaling $66.9 million and $83.2 million were outstanding under these agreements at June 30, 2012 and December 31, 2011, respectively. Under these agreements, we are required to maintain deposits with these financial institutions in amounts approximating the letters of credit outstanding. Such deposits are included in restricted cash.

We also maintain an unsecured letter of credit facility with a bank that expires in June 2014. This facility originally permitted the issuance of up to $200.0 million of letters of credit for general corporate purposes in support of any wholly-owned subsidiary. We voluntarily reduced the capacity of this facility to $150.0 million effective July 2, 2012. At June 30, 2012 and December 31, 2011, letters of credit of $133.6 million and $152.7 million, respectively, were outstanding under this facility.

Financial Services

Pulte Mortgage provides mortgage financing for many of our home closings utilizing its own funds and funds available pursuant to a repurchase agreement with the Company. Pulte Mortgage uses these resources to finance its lending activities until the mortgage loans are sold to third party investors, generally within 30 days.