Housebuilders reject concerns of property bubble as demand rises

Source: Daily Mail, LondonJan.mini storage 09--Britain's biggest housebuilder yesterday dismissed fears of a property bubble as it reported booming demand for its new homes.FTSE 100 firm Persimmon said revenues jumped 21pc last year to pounds sterling 2.1bn after it sold 11,528 homes ? with sales 30pc higher in the second half than the first.Rival builder Galliford Try also flagged up record profits for the six months to the end of December as the industry started the new year in bullish mood.It came as figures from mortgage lender Halifax showed house prices dipped 0.6pc in December but are still 7.5pc higher than a year ago. The housing market has staged a dramatic recovery after years in the doldrums as the economy picked up and mortgage lending increased with assistance from state-backed schemes such as Help To Buy.But the revival has fuelled fears that Britain is heading for a dangerous new housing bubble and the Bank of England this month scaled back its Fself storagending For Lending Scheme so it no longer applies to mortgages.Persimmon saw the average price of its homes rise 4pc to pounds sterling 180,900, but chief executive Jeff Fairburn, pictured left, put it down to a greater focus on more expensive family homes rather than an overheating market.'I don't think there is any sign of there being a bubble.' he said. 'We cover the whole of Great Britain and we have seen stable pricing rates across the board.'Persimmon shares yesterday fell 5p to 1289p while Galliford Try was down 13p to 1191p.Recruitment firm Robert Walters also reaped the benefit of the economic recovery as UK profits jumped 18pc to pounds sterling 15.1m for the final three months of 2013.Group profits rose 9pc to pounds sterling 49.7m in the fourth quarter. Shares climbed 10p to 339p.Copyright: ___ (c)2014 Daily Mail (London, ) Visit the Daily Mail (London, ) at .dailymail.co.uk/home/index.html Distributed by MCT Information Services迷你倉