In a trading update, the housebuilder revealed that the rate of cancelled sales for its new homes had increased over the last six weeks from 21 per cent to 28 per cent, while its sales rate had also dropped by around a fifth over the same period.
Persimmon pointed the finger for this downturn at the “headwinds of increased interest rates and reduced mortgage availability”, combined with increasing cost of living pressures.
It added: “While we have already seen mortgage providers and customers start to adapt to higher interest rates, the full impact of this uncertainty on consumer behaviour is yet to be determined.”
End of Help To Buy hasn’t helped
The housebuilder also noted the closure of the Help to Buy scheme, which it suggested had been utilised in around a fifth of completions on its properties in the year to date, though it argued that its lower average selling price meant its homes would continue to “prove attractive”.
Looking forward, Persimmon said it remained on course to complete on 14,500-15,000 homes this year, though sales next year are likely to drop as a result of the economic pressures.
However, it argued that “In the medium to longer term, the demand for new homes will remain strong”.
