William Lyon Homes Roars Out of Bankruptcy

Adding to the evidence that this year will offer a brisker spring sales season than the industry has seen in years, William Lyon Homes reported an explosion of sales orders in the first quarter. For the first time in nearly four years, it took orders for more than 300 homes during the three-month period. Fresh out of a non-contentious, pre-arranged bankruptcy, the Newport Beach, Calif.–based builder reported taking 321 new home orders in the quarter, up 89% over the anemic 170 sales orders it logged in the same quarter last year. Closings, too, were up to 128 homes, an increase of 15.3%. The builder’s backlog of homes sold, but not closed, more than doubled, up 132% to 332. The improvements stretched across Lyon’s three-state market, up 20% in Southern California over the previous year and 12% in Northern California. Order improvements were even more pronounced in its markets that were hit harder by the recession, moving up 297% in Arizona and 186% in Nevada. And the sales are sticking. The company’s cancellation rate fell to 9% from 15%. Lyon’s sales per community increased to 16.9 for the quarter compared to 9 for the same period in 2011. All the success exceeded company projections by nearly a third or more. And the achievement had nothing to do with discounting. The sales prices were 30% over projections, the company’s CFO Colin T. Severn said in a news release announcing the results.

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