WLS Welsh Property Trust Common Stock

William Lyon Homes (NYSE:WLS) announced today preliminary new home orders, closings and backlog information for the three and six months ended June 30, 2006. -0- *T Three Months Ended Six Months Ended June 30, June 30, ------------------ ----------------- 2006 2005 2006 2005 ------- ------ ------ ------ Number of new home orders: California 304 738 696 1,319 Arizona 166 177 282 336 Nevada 80 239 219 372 ------ ------ ------ ------ 550 1,154 1,197 2,027 ====== ====== ====== ====== Average number of sales locations during period: California 31 28 31 26 Arizona 6 6 6 6 Nevada 12 8 11 8 ------ ------ ------ ------ 49 42 48 40 ====== ====== ====== ====== Number of homes closed: California 554 335 882 547 Arizona 133 171 232 297 Nevada 81 113 235 234 ------ ------ ------ ------ 768 619 1,349 1,078 ====== ====== ====== ====== Backlog of homes sold but not closed at end of period: California 545 1,374 Arizona 446 521 Nevada 148 220 ------ ------ 1,139 2,115 ====== ====== *T New home orders for the three months ended June 30, 2006 were 550, a decrease of 52% as compared to 1,154 for the three months ended June 30, 2005. New home orders for the six months ended June 30, 2006 were 1,197, a decrease of 41% as compared to 2,027 for the six months ended June 30, 2005. The Company's new home orders for the three and six months ended June 30, 2006 include 82 and 178 homes from joint venture communities, respectively, compared to 180 and 385 homes from joint venture communities for the three and six months ended June 30, 2005, respectively. The Company's number of new home orders per average sales location decreased to 11.2 for the three months ended June 30, 2006 as compared to 27.5 for the three months ended June 30, 2005. The Company's number of new home orders per average sales location decreased to 24.9 for the six months ended June 30, 2006, as compared to 50.7 for the six months ended June 30, 2005. The Company's cancellation rate for the three months ended June 30, 2006 was 32%, compared to 13% for the three months ended June 30, 2005. The Company's cancellation rate for the six months ended June 30, 2006 was 30%, compared to 13% for the six months ended June 30, 2005. The number of homes closed during the three months ended June 30, 2006 was 768, an increase of 24% as compared to 619 for the three months ended June 30, 2005. The number of homes closed during the six months ended June 30, 2006 was 1,349, an increase of 25% as compared to 1,078 for the six months ended June 30, 2005. The Company's backlog of homes sold but not closed was 1,139 at June 30, 2006, a decrease of 46% as compared to 2,115 at June 30, 2005. William Lyon Homes is primarily engaged in the design, construction and sale of single family detached and attached homes in California, Arizona and Nevada and at June 30, 2006 had 49 sales locations. The Company's corporate headquarters are located in Newport Beach, California. For more information about the Company and its new home developments, please visit the Company's website at www.lyonhomes.com. Certain statements contained in this release that are not historical information contain forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and actual results may differ materially from those projected or implied. Further, certain forward-looking statements are based on assumptions regarding future events which may not prove to be accurate. Factors that may impact such forward-looking statements include, among others, changes in general economic conditions and in the markets in which the Company competes, the outbreak, continuation or escalation of war or other hostilities, including terrorism, involving the United States, changes in mortgage and other interest rates, changes in prices of homebuilding materials, weather, the occurrence of events such as landslides, soil subsidence and earthquakes that are uninsurable, not economically insurable or not subject to effective indemnification agreements, the availability of labor and homebuilding materials, changes in governmental laws and regulations, the timing of receipt of regulatory approvals and the opening of projects, and the availability and cost of land for future development, as well as the other factors discussed in the Company's reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.