Persimmon Calls For Government Assistance NOW
Persimmon is the latest house builder to call on the government to intervene in the mortgage market as soon as possible after announcing pre-tax profits which were down two thirds on the same period last year. But what can the industry expect from the authorities?
As we have covered on this site over the last few months the UK government seemed to be on the verge of announcing a number of measures to bail the sector out, only to pull back at the last minute. The talk of a stamp duty freeze and intervention in the money market has receded of late and if anything it seems as though nothing will be announced before the autumn.
In the meantime the sector continues to suffer, buyers are sitting on their hands for the time being and sellers are knocking more and more off their valuations to try and secure a sale. The shares of Persimmon bounced yesterday on hopes that this was the bottom of the housing market recession but there are many who believe otherwise.
We have seen shares in the sector fluctuate wildly over the last few weeks with the likes of Barratt Development apparently close to running out of funds, only to then appear on the takeover radar of some prominent investors. Will government action be too late or will the sector bounce into life itself?
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