Barratt reports 4% rise in selling prices
A leading UK house builder has announced that its selling prices have risen by 4% to an average £167,000.
The trading update from Barratt Developments also revealed that net private reservations increased 8.9% over the past six months.
The group’s forward sales surged 43% to £651.2 million, while first-half completions were in-line with expectations, at 5,028, comprising 4,381 private completions and 647 social housing completions. The total figure compares with 6,905 in 2008.
Cancellation rates for the period stood at 17.8% compared to 27.8% in the prior year.
However, Barratt’s group chief executive, Mark Clare, cautions: “The market has improved but is still subject to the major uncertainties of both mortgage finance and the general economic outlook.”
The group expects sales to continue rising, with total average selling prices increasing by between 8% and 10% during its full financial year.
In related news, Halifax recently reported that in December 2009, house prices increased for the sixth consecutive month.
The rise took the value of a typical home to £169,042, up 9.4% on the low of April 2009, and 1.1% higher on an annual basis.
Taking the three-month-on-three-month measure, prices rose for the second successive quarter.
In the final three months of 2009, the average value of a home increased 3.5%, marking the biggest quarterly jump since 2006, according to Halifax.
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