Taylor Wimpey remains bullish although housebuilder shares slip

HOUSEBUILDER TAYLOR Wimpey has said Britain’s property market remains “solid” despite wider economic uncertainty.

In a full-year trading update, the group reported a 5 per cent rise in completions to 14,541 over 2017, while average prices on private sales lifted 3 per cent to £296,000.

Taylor Wimpey said it saw “good demand and trading” throughout 2017 and expects further growth in the year ahead.

Its bullish remarks come in spite of mounting worries over a housing market slowdown after a run of recent downbeat reports.

Data from Halifax shows the first monthly decline for six months in December, fuelled by falling wages and Brexit fears. It said house prices fell 0.6 per cent month-on-month in December, following a 0.3 per cent increase in both October and November.

Taylor said last year saw demand for new homes helped by the Government’s ongoing Help To Buy scheme for first-time buyers, as well as low interest rates and mortgage availability.

Taylor said 2017 profits would be in line with expectations, but its shares nevertheless fell 3 per cent as it disappointed investors hoping for a repeat of Persimmon’s profit upgrade on Tuesday.

Shares also slipped for rivals, with Persimmon, Barratt Developments and Berkeley Group all 2 per cent lower in the FTSE 100.