Housebuilders are under pressure following a sharp drop in house prices in August, according to the latest survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.
Sales in August - admittedly not one of the top months for buying a house - fell back to levels last seen during the worst of the recession in 2008, the survey showed. Gerard Lane at Shore Capital said:
The headline balance fell from -8 to -32, against expectations of -12. The sales to stock held by each surveyor continues to fall, suggesting that house prices will continue to come under negative pressure. Together with very low levels of mortgage approvals, the RICS balance is consistent with a sharp fall in house price in the next 12 months.
Redrow
Bovis Homes
Persimmon
Barratt Developments
As a consequence has lost 5.1p to 130.1p, leading the FTSE 250 fallers, while is down 7.9p to 377p, has dropped 10.5p to 401p and is 1.5p lower at 103.6p.
