EXHIBIT 99
                PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION REFORM ACT OF 1995
         SAFE HARBOR COMPLIANCE STATEMENT FOR FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

         In passing the Private  Securities  Litigation  Reform Act of 1995 (the
"PSLRA"),   Congress  encouraged  public  companies  to  make   "forward-looking
statements"1 by creating a safe-harbor to protect  companies from securities law
liability in connection with  forward-looking  statements.  Meritage Corporation
(the  "Company"  or  "Meritage")  intends to qualify  both its  written and oral
forward-looking statements for protection under the PSLRA.

         To qualify oral  forward-looking  statements for  protection  under the
PSLRA, a readily available written document must identify important factors that
could   cause   actual   results  to  differ   materially   from  those  in  the
forward-looking  statements.  Meritage  provides the  following  information  in
connection with its continuing effort to qualify forward-looking  statements for
the safe harbor protection of the PSLRA.

         Important factors currently known to management that could cause actual
results to differ materially from those in forward-looking  statements  include,
but are not  limited  to,  the  following:  (i)  changes in  national  and local
economic  and other  conditions,  such as  employment  levels,  availability  of
mortgage financing,  interest rates,  consumer  confidence,  and housing demand;
(ii) risks inherent in homebuilding activities, including delays in construction
schedules,  cost overruns,  changes in government regulation,  increases in real
estate taxes and other local fees;  (iii)  changes in costs or  availability  of
land,  materials,  and labor; (iv)  fluctuations in real estate values;  (v) the
timing of home closings and land sales;  (vi) the Company's  ability to continue
to acquire  additional land or options to acquire  additional land on acceptable
terms;  (vii) a relative  lack of  geographic  diversification  of the Company's
operation,  especially  when real estate  analysts are predicting  that new home
sales in certain  markets  may slow during  1999;  (viii) the  inability  of the
Company to obtain sufficient  capital on terms acceptable to the Company to fund
its planned  capital and other  expenditures;  (ix) changes in local,  state and
federal rules and regulations governing real estate development and homebuilding
activities  and  environmental  matters,  including "no growth" or "slow growth"
initiatives, building permit allocation ordinances and building moratoriums; (x)
expansion  by the Company into new markets in which the Company has no operating
experience,  such as Northern  California;  (xi) the inability of the Company to
identify  acquisition  candidates  that will result in successful  combinations;
(xii) the failure of the Company to make acquisitions on terms acceptable to the
Company,  or to successfully  integrate  acquired  operations,  such as Northern
California,  into the  Company;  and  (xiii)  the loss of key  employees  of the
Company, including William W. Cleverly, Steven J. Hilton and John R. Landon.

         Forward-looking  statements express  expectations of future events. All
forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain as they are based on various
expectations  and assumptions  concerning  future events and they are subject to
numerous  known and unknown  risks and  uncertainties  which could cause  actual
events or  results  to differ  materially  from  those  projected.  Due to these
inherent  uncertainties,  the  investment  community is urged not to place undue
reliance on  forward-looking  statements.  In addition,  Meritage  undertakes no
obligations to update or revise  forward-looking  statements to reflect  changed
assumptions, the occurrence of anticipated events or changes to projections over
time.

(1)   "Forward-looking  statements"  can be  identified  by use of words such as
      "expect,"  "believe,"  "estimate,"  "project,"  "forecast,"  "anticipate,"
      "plan," and similar expressions.