Exhibit 99.1

WILLIAM LYON HOMES REPORTS SECOND QUARTER 2016 RESULTS

31% INCREASE IN HOMEBUILDING REVENUE; 22% INCREASE IN DOLLAR VALUE OF HOMES IN BACKLOG; AND 19% INCREASE IN NET INCOME AVAILABLE TO COMMON STOCKHOLDERS

NEWPORT BEACH, CA— August 5, 2016 — William Lyon Homes (NYSE: WLH), a leading homebuilder in the Western U.S., announced results for its 2016 second quarter ended June 30, 2016.

2016 Second Quarter Highlights (Comparison to 2015 Second Quarter)

“We are pleased with our financial results for the second quarter as we continue to improve year-over-year, with homebuilding revenues of $325.1 million, up 31%, gross margin of $56.4 million, up 19%, SG&A percentage improvement of 70 basis points, and net income available to common stockholders of $14.6 million, or $0.38 per diluted share, up 19%,” said Matthew R. Zaist, President and Chief Executive Officer. “We also executed on an active spring selling season with net new home orders of 871, which was a monthly absorption rate of 4.0 sales per community during the quarter, ending the quarter with a rate of 4.2 sales per community in June.”

Mr. Zaist continued, “For the remainder of 2016, we will continue to focus on executing on our strategic initiatives, including conversion of our substantial backlog, which stands at 1,093 units with an associated value of $575.5 million, the highest levels since 2006.”

Operating Results

Home sales revenue for the second quarter of 2016 was $325.1 million, as compared to $247.7 million in the year-ago period, an increase of 31%. Our performance was driven by a 20% increase in the number of deliveries to 663 homes, compared to 553 homes delivered in the second quarter of 2015. Average sales price of homes delivered was $490,300 in the quarter, compared to $448,000 in the year-ago period. The 9% increase in ASP primarily reflects changes in geographic and product mix contributing to closings during the quarter.

The dollar value of orders for the second quarter of 2016 was $423.6 million, an increase of 13%, from $374.1 million in the year-ago period. Net new home orders for the quarter were 871, up 3% from 843 in the second quarter of 2015. The overall increase in net new home orders was primarily driven by an increase in community count to 72 average sales locations, from 67 in the year-ago period.

The dollar value of homes in backlog was $575.5 million as of June 30, 2016, an increase of 22% compared to $471.5 million as of June 30, 2015. The increase was driven by both a 13% increase in units in backlog to 1,093 from 968 and an 8% increase in ASP in backlog to $526,500 from $487,100 in the year-ago period.

Homebuilding gross margin percentage was 17.4% during the second quarter of 2016 and adjusted homebuilding gross margin percentage for the quarter was 24.0%.

Sales and marketing expense during the second quarter of 2016 was 5.6% of homebuilding revenue, compared to 6.0% in the year-ago quarter, driven primarily by higher homebuilding revenue and leverage on our advertising and marketing costs, compared to the prior year period. General and administrative expenses decreased to 5.1% of homebuilding revenue, compared to 5.4% in the year-ago quarter, as we continue to benefit from a lower relative cost structure due to positive operating leverage.

Balance Sheet Update

At quarter end, cash and cash equivalents totaled $39.8 million, real estate inventories totaled $1.8 billion, total assets were $2.1 billion and total equity was $726.8 million. Total debt to book capitalization was 61.6%, and net debt to net book capitalization was 60.8% at June 30, 2016, compared to 62.2% and 61.1%, respectively, as of December 31, 2015.

Conference Call

The Company will host a conference call to discuss these results today, Friday, August 5, 2016 at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time. The call will be available via both the telephone at (855) 851-4524 or (720) 634-2900, conference id #52484853, or through the Company’s website at www.lyonhomes.com in the Investor Relations section of the site. A replay of the call will be available through August 12, 2016 by dialing (855) 859-2056 or (404) 537-3406, conference id #52484853. A webcast replay of the call will also be available on the Company’s website approximately two hours after the broadcast.

About William Lyon Homes

William Lyon Homes is one of the largest Western U.S. regional homebuilders. Headquartered in Newport Beach, California, the Company is primarily engaged in the design, construction, marketing and sale of single-family detached and attached homes in California, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, Washington and

Oregon. Its core markets include Orange County, Los Angeles, the Inland Empire, the San Francisco Bay Area, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Denver, Seattle and Portland. The Company has a distinguished legacy of more than 60 years of homebuilding operations, over which time it has sold in excess of 96,000 homes. The Company markets and sells its homes under the William Lyon Homes brand in all of its markets except for Colorado, where the Company operates under the Village Homes brand, and Washington and Oregon, where the Company operates under the Polygon Northwest brand.

Certain statements contained in this release and the accompanying comments during our conference call that are not historical information may constitute “forward-looking statements” as defined by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, but not limited to, forward-looking statements related to: anticipated new home deliveries and revenue, gross margin performance, backlog conversion rates, operating and financial results for the third quarter of 2016 and full year 2016, community count growth, market and industry trends, the continued housing market recovery, average sale price of homes to be closed in various periods, SG&A percentage, future cash needs and liquidity, leverage ratios and reduction strategies and land acquisition spending. The forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and actual results may differ materially from those projected or implied. The Company makes no commitment, and disclaims any duty, to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect future events or changes in these expectations. Further, certain forward-looking statements are based on assumptions of future events which may not prove to be accurate. Factors that may impact such forward-looking statements include, among others: the availability of labor and homebuilding materials and increased construction cycle times; adverse weather conditions, including but not limited to the continued drought in California and the Southwest; our financial leverage and level of indebtedness and any inability to comply with financial and other covenants under our debt instruments; continued volatility and worsening in general economic conditions either internationally, nationally or in regions in which we operate; changes in governmental laws and regulations and increased costs, fees and delays associated therewith; uncertainties regarding the 2016 U.S. presidential election; worsening in markets for residential housing; the impact of construction defect, product liability and home warranty claims, including the adequacy of self-insurance accruals, and the applicability and sufficiency of our insurance coverage; decline in real estate values resulting in impairment of our real estate assets; volatility in the banking industry and credit markets; uncertainties in the capital and securities markets; terrorism or other hostilities involving the United States; building moratorium or “slow-growth” or “no-growth” initiatives that could be implemented in states in which we operate; changes in mortgage and other interest rates; conditions in the capital, credit and financial markets, including mortgage lending standards and the availability of mortgage financing; changes in generally accepted accounting principles or interpretations of those principles; changes in prices of homebuilding materials; competition for home sales from other sellers of new and resale homes; cancellations and our ability to realize our backlog; the occurrence of events such as landslides, soil subsidence and earthquakes that are uninsurable, not economically insurable or not subject to effective indemnification agreements; whether we are able to pay off or refinance the outstanding balances of our debt obligations at their maturity; limitations on our ability to utilize our tax attributes; whether an ownership change occurred that could, under certain circumstances, have resulted in the limitation of our ability to offset prior years’ taxable income with net operating losses; the timing of receipt of regulatory approvals and the opening of projects; the availability and cost of land for future development;

and additional factors discussed under the sections captioned “Risk Factors” included in our annual and quarterly reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The foregoing list is not exhaustive. New risk factors may emerge from time to time and it is not possible for management to predict all such risk factors or to assess the impact of such risk factors on our business.

Investor/Media Contacts:

Larry Clark

Financial Profiles, Inc.

(310) 622-8223

WLH@finprofiles.com

WILLIAM LYON HOMES

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS

(in thousands except number of shares and per share data)

(unaudited)

WILLIAM LYON HOMES

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS

(in thousands except number of shares and per share data)

(unaudited)

WILLIAM LYON HOMES

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

(in thousands, except number of shares and par value per share)

WILLIAM LYON HOMES

SELECTED FINANCIAL AND OPERATING INFORMATION

(unaudited)

WILLIAM LYON HOMES

SELECTED FINANCIAL AND OPERATING INFORMATION

(unaudited)

WILLIAM LYON HOMES

SELECTED FINANCIAL AND OPERATING INFORMATION

(unaudited)

WILLIAM LYON HOMES

SUPPLEMENTAL FINANCIAL INFORMATION

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WILLIAM LYON HOMES

SUPPLEMENTAL FINANCIAL INFORMATION

(unaudited)