Persimmon’s forward sales were up by nine per cent on 2019.
The group said 2019 was a more “appropriate comparison” for its performance as it reflected a typical trading pattern.
Annually, the developer said private sales rose 30 per cent on 2020 with the increase “reflecting the unprecedented site shutdowns” which took place last year.
Dean Finch, chief executive of Persimmon, said: “The fundamentals of the housing market continue to remain positive with improving consumer confidence, low interest rates, and mortgage lenders that are keen to support customers to buy a home of their own.”
The average price of a new Persimmon home in H1 was valued at £236,199, an increase on the average of £225,066 last year. This reflected record price rises seen across the property market spurred by the stamp duty holiday demand.
Persimmon delivered 7,406 new homes during the first six months, up on the 4,900 completed last year. Of those, 6,104 new homes were delivered to private owner occupiers up on 4,029 last year. These were sold at an average selling price of £258,220, a 4.9 per cent increase on last year.
The group generated £1.75bn in new housing revenue for the first six months of year, a rise on 2020’s figure of £1.1bn. It also reported a profit before tax of £480m, compared to the £292.4m it reported last year.
Looking forward, Finch said the long-term foundations of the market remained strong and said Persimmon was “mindful of the evolving situation” of the pandemic.
He added: “Persimmon’s performance over the last eighteen months has demonstrated that successful execution of its strategy provides the business with the flexibility and resilience needed to manage not only the cyclical nature of the housing market but events that create similar market disruption.
“This, together with an agile and responsive management team, ensures that the business remains well set to continue to generate superior and sustainable returns for the benefit of all its stakeholders.”
