Newport Beach homebuilder William Lyon Homes Inc. reported a pre-tax loss of $77.8 million in the second quarter on Wednesday, compared to profits of $50 million a year ago.
The loss included $84.4 million in write-downs for land the homebuilder owns, to account for softening market conditions and slow sales.
The company, which builds in California, Arizona and Nevada, is facing the same challenges as other builders in the slow housing market. In the second quarter, William Lyon home deliveries dropped 29% compared to a year ago, while home orders fell 11%.
The company posted consolidated operating revenues of $271.1 million in the quarter, which was down 34% from a year ago. The homes it sold had an average price of $468,800 last quarter, compared to $529,500 a year ago.
William Lyon Homes is managing the housing downturn as a private company, following a buyout in July 2006. Chairman and Chief Executive Gen. William Lyon engineered the privatization, paying about $275 million to buy roughly 25% of company he didn’t already own.
The deal valued William Lyon Homes at about $950 million at the time.
