Rising house sales at Bovis

8th Nov 2010 07:17

Housebuilder Bovis said it expects market conditions to remain challenging over the next few months but remains confident it can sell more homes in 2011."Whilst there remains uncertainty concerning the near term direction of house prices, the fundamental demand and supply drivers of the housing market remain positive which should support volume and prices in the medium term," the group said in Monday's interim statement.Kent based Bovis, which swung back into the black in August, said it has maintained a solid sales rate against the backdrop of a market which continues to be challenging, particularly with the lower level of mortages available.In the interim period to 5 November, the housebuilder sold 1,900 homes and currently has over 250 forward sales for legal completion during 2011, a total which will grow through the remaining eight weeks of 2010. Based on the group's average number of active sales outlets of 66 for 2010 to date, the group recorded an average sales rate per outlet per week of 0.42 homes compared to 0.37 sales per outlet per week in the same period of 2009, an increase of 14%. Bovis expects the average sales price of legal completions in 2010 will be around £160,000, up 3% from 2009's average sales price of £154,600."The strategy executed by the group this year has prepared it well to take advantage of such an environment with a strong balance sheet and enhanced consented land bank delivering an increased number of sites on which to trade," Bovis explained.