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Tag: Taylor Wimpey

Things may look slightly better in the housing market, but I wouldn’t get too excited

Things may look slightly better in the housing market, but I wouldn’t get too excited

The balance of the news over the past couple of weeks suggests things are getting better rather than worse. But what does it all say about the medium-term prospects of the housing market? To recap. Today Persimmon released a broadly positive interim management statement with the tasty nugget of a 35% increase in first-time buyer visitors over a year ago. Bovis also released its statement today which said private reservations in the 44 weeks to November 4 were up 22%…

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Good news on the planning front – rejections fall and applications for new homes rise

Good news on the planning front – rejections fall and applications for new homes rise

The data published today on planning applications on the face of it should provide house builders and their suppliers with some comfort. The figures show that in the final quarter of last year the number of planning decisions for major residential developments – those with 10 or more homes – rose for the second quarter in a row. Admittedly the number, 1,300 in the quarter, is about half that of the average during the boom years between 2003 and 2008, but…

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Forecasters call the bottom of the house price slump

Forecasters call the bottom of the house price slump

The increasing stretch of stable house prices is leading forecasters to call the bottom of the slump. The Nationwide late last month tentatively said it may be time to think the unthinkable that house prices may exit 2009 higher than they entered it. Last week much was made of the RICS saying it expected house prices to be higher at the end of 2009 than at the beginning. Wisely, there were heavy caveats and warnings over the fragility of the…

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Britons £500 billion poorer as house prices fall

Britons £500 billion poorer as house prices fall

I thought it might be interesting to put the latest Nationwide house price data and the recent land write downs made by Taylor Wimpey into a different context. I’d say for fun, but the real consequences are far from funny to a lot of people. So here is a thought to conjure with: The value of all housing in the UK has dropped (assuming the Nationwide measure is accurate) by about £500 billion in less than a year. To put…

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Media plays down housing crisis – 160,000 house building jobs to go

Media plays down housing crisis – 160,000 house building jobs to go

Not a headline you might expect. And let’s hope the house building industry doesn’t shed 160,000 jobs, but it is looking ever more likely. First let’s get one thing out of the way. The media is blamed for hyping the crisis we now find ourselves in. To hold that view is to simultaneously seek to shoot the messenger while keeping your head firmly buried in the sand. The media may get it wrong sometimes. The media may misrepresent complex issues….

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Housing rescue plan? What housing rescue plan?

Housing rescue plan? What housing rescue plan?

Caroline Flint has just announced the much talked of rescue plan for the housing market – couched in terms of affordable housing, but in essence an attempt to bolster the crumbling house building sector. It has been welcomed by the National Housing Federation, so it must be good. And I am sure the Home Builders Federation will, through gritted teeth, also welcome the move. See what you think, but to my eyes it appears to be the equivalent of throwing…

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