Taylor Wimpey said that sales of new homes had increased in recent weeks after suffering a slight dip at the time of the general election.
In a trading update before its half-year results, the housebuilder said that it continued to see a gradual improvement in the market although the environment remained uncertain.
The company, which operates in Britain, North America, Spain and Gibraltar, said that the UK housing market had “maintained an encouraging level of stability” since its last update at the end of April and that mortgage availability had improved slowly since the start of the year.
The group, created from the merger of George Wimpey and Taylor Woodrow in 2007, said that the rate of sales of private houses was broadly in line with those achieved in the first half of last year, at an average of 0.58 sales per site per week compared with 0.61.
It said that the slight softening around the election had dissipated and that it had sold 83 per cent of its full-year target for completions.
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“Our focus remains on achieving price improvement rather than increasing volume, and prices on reservations have shown a further slight improvement,” the company said, adding that it expected the shortage of new-build housing and the strength of demand to continue to underpin prices.
It expected to complete around 4,650 homes in the first half of the year, down from 4,702 in the same period last year, at an average selling price of about £167,000, up from £153,000.
The group, which last year reported consolidated losses of £700 million, said that it had “continued to be active but selective in the land market”, completing a number of deals with customers keen to complete bwefore the expected changes to capital gains tax.
In the US Taylor Wimpey said that pricing had remained stable but that there had been a slight reduction in the rate of sales. It forecast “clear signs of a sustainable recovery by the end of the year”.
Its business in Canada continued to perform strongly, while in Spain and Gibraltar there was a fall in average selling prices from £288,000 to £233,000.
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The group, which expects to end the half-year with a net debt of £650 million, down from £75 million at the end of last year, said: “Our active cost reduction, high-quality landbank and strong order book position us well to continue to increase sales and profitability as markets recover.”
Analysts said that the statement should provide some comfort to the market, although shares of Taylor Wimpey were trading 0.91p lower at 29.55p in early trading, a fall of almost 3 per cent.