House builder updates fuel confidence

By Lorraine Turner

LONDON (Reuters) - The price of a new homes has started to climb, according to house builders Redrow and Taylor Wimpey who also reported stabilising sales, bolstering the sector and signs of growing consumer confidence.

Taylor Wimpey, Britain's second largest house builder by market value, said on Wednesday it was fully sold for 2009 and was bullish on a recovery, albeit at a sluggish pace.

The average price for private homes is 9 percent higher than the first half at 177,670 pounds, it said.

"The underlying market is more stable than statistics tend to imply. So in that way, for our own business, we're not expecting to see a sudden downward shift again," chief executive Pete Redfern told Reuters.

"The UK stabilised earlier (than the United States) but the price recovery is likely to be a bit slower and a bit more of a grind whereas in the U.S. there might be a bit more pace behind it," he said.

Taylor Wimpey shares were up 9.2 percent at 11:15 a.m., while Redrow was 7.6 percent higher and rival Persimmon was up 10.3 percent.

Redrow, one of the smaller listed British house builders, said total net private reservations since July were up 47 percent, averaging 45 homes per week. "Achieved prices are slightly ahead of our own expectations with private reservations to date averaging 149,000 pounds," Redrow said.

A string of other reports on Wednesday also pointed to a rise in confidence, with Nationwide Building Society saying consumer morale was at its highest in 18 months while retailers such as Marks & Spencers and Next posted upbeat results.