Housebuilders lose £1bn as sales start to slump

Almost £1bn was knocked off the value of the UK’s listed housebuilders yesterday, amid the first signs that demand for new homes is falling, and fast. Barratt Homes said yesterday that it was selling an average of 0.48 homes per week at its sites, a 44% drop from this time last year and 20% below July and August’s figures. Barratt shares dropped 5.1%, while Persimmon fell 6.2% and Crest Nicholson slumped 6.6%. In total, the stock market values of the nine biggest housebuilders fell by about £930m, according to Refinitiv data. The Times (£)