FORM 3

UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20549 INITIAL STATEMENT OF BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP OF SECURITIES Filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Section 17(a) of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 or Section 30(h) of the Investment Company Act of 1940

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(Print or Type Responses)

1. Name and Address of Reporting Person *   BRADFORD DANA 2. Date of Event Requiring Statement (Month/Day/Year) 08/12/2009 3. Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol Meritage Homes CORP [MTH] (Last) (First) (Middle) 17851 NORTH 85TH STREET, SUITE 300 4. Relationship of Reporting Person(s) to Issuer (Check all applicable) __X__ Director _____ 10% Owner _____ Officer (give title below) _____ Other (specify below) 5. If Amendment, Date Original Filed(Month/Day/Year) (Street) SCOTTSDALE, AZ 85255 6. Individual or Joint/Group Filing(Check Applicable Line) _X_ Form filed by One Reporting Person ___ Form filed by More than One Reporting Person (City) (State) (Zip) Table I - Non-Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned

1.Title of Security (Instr. 4) 2. Amount of Securities Beneficially Owned (Instr. 4) 3. Ownership Form: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 5) 4. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 5) MTH COMMON STOCK 1,000,000 I BY SOUTHWEST VALUE PARTNERS FUND XIV, LP (1) MTH COMMON STOCK 1,185,920 I BY FULCRUM HOMES, LLC (2)

Reminder: Report on a separate line for each class of securities beneficially owned directly or indirectly.			SEC 1473 (7-02)
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Table II - Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned (e.g., puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities)

1. Title of Derivative Security (Instr. 4)	2. Date Exercisable and Expiration Date (Month/Day/Year)		3. Title and Amount of Securities Underlying Derivative Security (Instr. 4)		4. Conversion or Exercise Price of Derivative Security	5. Ownership Form of Derivative Security: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 5)	6. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 5)
	Date Exercisable	Expiration Date	Title	Amount or Number of Shares

Reporting Owners

Reporting Owner Name / Address	Relationships
	Director	10% Owner	Officer	Other
BRADFORD DANA 17851 NORTH 85TH STREET, SUITE 300 SCOTTSDALE, AZ 85255	  X	Â	Â	Â

Signatures

/s/ Dana C. Bradford		08/17/2009
**Signature of Reporting Person		Date

Explanation of Responses:

*	If the form is filed by more than one reporting person, see Instruction 5(b)(v).
**	Intentional misstatements or omissions of facts constitute Federal Criminal Violations. See 18 U.S.C. 1001 and 15 U.S.C. 78ff(a).
(1)	These shares are owned of record by Southwest Value Partners XIV, LP. Mr. Bradford may be deemed to control the voting, disposition or purchase of these shares and thus may be deemed to share beneficial ownership of these shares. Mr. Bradford disclaims beneficial ownership of these shares except to the extent of his pecuniary interest therein, and the inclusion of these shares in this report shall not be an admission of beneficial ownership of all of the reported securities for purposes of Section 16 or for any other purpose.
(2)	These shares are owned of record by Fulcrum Homes, LLC. Mr. Bradford may be deemed to control the voting, disposition or purchase of these shares and thus may be deemed to share beneficial ownership of these shares. Mr. Bradford disclaims beneficial ownership of these shares except to the extent of his pecuniary interest therein, and the inclusion of these shares in this report shall not be an admission of beneficial ownership of all of the reported securities for purposes of Section 16 or for any other purpose.

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