Taylor Wimpey wary over recovery

28th Jun 2010 07:14

Housebuilder Taylor Wimpey reports stable conditions in both UK and US housing over the past six months but is still wary over prospects in both markets."In the short term, however, with ongoing political and economic uncertainty, we continue to run the business on a cautious basis, with selective land investment and an ongoing focus on costs and cash, " Taylor said."In the medium term, we remain concerned that the shortage of consented land will artificially constrain the recovery in industry volumes and this will be exacerbated by the impact and timing of changes in planning policy following the General Election, " it added. UK sales in the half year to July ran at 0.58 sales per site per week, a figure similar to last year. The firm expects to complete around 4,650 homes in the first half of the year (H1 2009: 4,702) at an average selling price of approximately £167k (H1 2009: £153k). Forward orders are 83% sold.In the US, prices have held steady and Taylor Wimpey expects to complete approximately 1,800 homes (H1 2009: 1,933) at an average selling price of around US$300,000 (H1 2009: US$275,000).Taylor expects continued volatility in the US over next few months as the distorting impact of the cessation of the Homebuyer Tax Credit unwinds, though it expects signs of sustainable recovery towards the end of this year.