This team has positioned Lennar Corporation [NYSE:LEN]with advantage assets that will continue to drive profitability in our core home building and financial services business line. Additionally, we have developed a well-diversified platform that will continue to enhance shareholder value as our ancillary businesses continue to mature. Today, we are proud to share our results for fiscal 2014 and we look forward to sharing our further progress as we move into a new year. With that let me turn over to Bruce.
Bruce Gross, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Thanks Stewart and good morning. Our net earnings for the fourth quarter were 1.07$ per diluted share vs .73$ per share prior year. I will provide some additional colors to the numbers starting with home building. Our gross margin on home sales was 25.6% compared with 26.8% the prior year. However this exceeded our fourth quarter gross margin goal discussed on our last conference call. The gross margin increased subsequently by 40 basis points. However defined 120 basis points year over year into a moderating and pricing power as labor, material and land cost increased. Sales incentives increased by 30 basis points the prior year. 6.6% as a percentage of home sale revenue. The gross margin percentage for the quarter remains highest in the East. South East Florida and West regions.
Additionally we had a 5.8 million dollar benefit for the gross margin during the quarter relating to Chinese rival settlements. In addition to the 30 basis points improvement in our SGNA, we have also recognized operating leverage on our corporate GNA line which improved by 10 basis points the 2.2% as a percent of total revenue. The combined categories of land sell income during venture profit and other income, netted to 14.4 million of profit this year vs. 20.1 million in the prior year. Other interest expense declined 75% year after year from 20.5 million in the prior year to 5.2 million in the current quarter. As we continue to open communities and increase the qualifying assets eligible for capitalization.
As Stewart mentioned we opened 75 new communities to end the year at 625 active communities. This is at the high end of the goal that we provided for 2014 and 16% increase over 2013. We purchased 44 home sites during the quarter, totaling 250 million. Our total land acquisition spend for the full year in 2014 declined by 21% to 1.4 billion from 1.8 billion in 2013. This is consistent with the strategy that Stewart articulated. To softly pivot from longer term land parcels to shorter term deals. Our home sites owned and controlled now total 165000 home sites of which 133000 are owned and 32000 are controlled. Our completed unsold inventory at quarter end is carefully managed, averaging 1.5 homes per community at 948 homes.
Turning to financial services. They had a strong quarter with operating earnings increasing for 30.2 million from 17 million in the prior year. Increased earnings was due to higher volume and higher profit for transaction in both mortgage and title operations. The mortgage pretax income increased at 23.9 million from 14.3 million in the prior year mortgage originations increased 52% to 2 billion from 1.3 billion in the prior year. The increased volume was the result of higher home closing by Lennar, a higher capture rate of Lennar Corporation [NYSE:LEN]home buyers and the expansion of our retail platform. The capture rate improved at 81% this quarter from 75% in the prior year. Our titled companies profit increased to 6.9 million in the quarter from 3.4 million in the prior year primarily due to higher profit for transaction. Our titled team continues to focus on maximizing the title opportunities within our ancillary businesses.
Turning to Realtor, the composition of Realtor’s 38.2 million of operating earnings by the three types of investments before GNA and Realtor interest expense rates follows. First the investment management business contributed 66.5 million of earnings which includes 16 million of equity and earnings from the real estate funds and 50.5 million of management fees and other. The 50.5 million includes 34.7 million of a carried interest distribution from Realtor fund 1. This was the first collection of funds pertaining to the carried interest which was distributed
