Broker snap: Housebuilders rise after Goldman comments

9th Oct 2013 11:03

Housebuilding stocks were performing well on Wednesday after upbeat comments from Goldman Sachs over the outlook for the market, driven in part by 'Help to Buy'.This comes just days after the government launched the second phase of the mortgage guarantee scheme three months earlier than planned.Goldman added Taylor Wimpey to its 'conviction buy' list and upgraded its ratings for Bovis Homes and Barratt Developments from 'neutral' to 'buy'. "Partly stimulated by the Help To Buy shared equity scheme, lead indicators such as UK mortgage approvals and RICS survey data strongly indicate a rebound in activity," the US bank said in a report."Moreover, forward sales for UK housebuilders are currently tracking up around 50%, further supporting our view of a meaningful transactions recovery from 2014 onwards from depressed levels."Goldman said it has "accelerated its view" on the recovery in the UK housing market, increasing its forecasts for transaction growth to 15% per annum in 2014, 2015 and 2016, from 10%, 10% and 6%, respectively. It has also raised its house-price inflation estimate for that period from 4% per annum to 6% per annum.BC