Spring surge boosts Taylor Wimpey

Market-led house price increases and the traditionally strong spring selling season have given Taylor Wimpey a strong start to the year, the developer has announced in a trading update ahead of its half-year results for the year up to 29 June, 2014.

The UK-based homebuilder completed 5,766 homes in the first half of 2014, up 11% from 5,191 in 2013.

Average sale price has also jumped, up 9% to £224,000 (€280,000) from 2013’s figure of £205,000 (€258,000).

Taylor Wimpey said its total order book, excluding completions to date and joint ventures, was at an optimal level and stood at £1.58 billion (€2 billion) as at 29 June, 2014. This compared to £1.25 billion (€1.6 billion) for the same period in 2013. The current order book represents 7,587 homes, up from 7,101 homes for the first half of 2013.

The UK-focused company also operates in Spain, where the housing market remains challenging. There, Taylor Wimpey completed 20 homes in the first half, at an average price of €254,000, up from an average price of €216,000 in 2013. The order book for Spain stood at £65 million (€82 million) as at 29 June 2014, representing 284 homes.

The homebuilder said that it remained confident of delivering on its full year expectations for 2014 and to delivering its medium term targets for 2015 and beyond.

Taylor Wimpey will announce its first half results on 30 July, 2014.