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THE housebuilding sector has been riding the crest of a wave, though there are concerns that wave is about to break. House price growth is slowing, and that’s been a key plank in the rising profits of builders like Barratt Developments.

There looks to be some fuel left in the tank, however. Mortgage rates are extremely low and don’t look like shifting any time soon. The Government’s Help to Buy scheme is still putting people onto the property ladder, though from 2021 this will be restricted to firsttime buyers only.

Brexit could deliver a knock to housing if it turns out badly, and that has cast a bit of a shadow over share price performance in the sector. Barratt investors can look forward to healthy dividends and share buybacks, as it returns its surplus capital to shareholders.

Barratt has achieved a fivestar rating for build quality for ten years in a row, a good result considering a main competitor, Persimmon, has faced continued criticism. Housing stocks are by nature cyclical, but if there is an economic slowdown, Barratt faces it from a position of strength.