Barratt Developments sees signs of a recovery in the property market
In line with yesterday's announcement from Persimmon, Barratt Developments has again reiterated the fact that there are signs of improvement in the UK property market with reservations per site up by over 30% compared to last year. Thankfully the company has managed to reduce its own debt load from £1.4 billion last year to £700 million this year due to the recent £720 million fundraising. It also looks as though Barratt developments is in the market for further land acquisitions, a sure sign that it believes the worst is over and the sector is now looking to move ahead.
Despite the fact that house prices have fallen by 20% since August 2007 we are starting to see a month by month recovery in prices which is slowly but surely building confidence leading to a potential snowball effect. While nobody is taking it for granted that the UK economy will power ahead in 2010, indeed many people believe it will be a difficult year, but thankfully it looks as though we can safely say the worst is over at least for the moment.
The more UK property companies which release positive statements the more confident buyers will become and the more liquidity will eventually return to the market.
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