Taylor Wimpey released a remarkably upbeat trading statement for early 2023 and noted improving sales rates and recovery in demand from the lowest levels of last year.
That said, Taylor Wimpey’s total order book value stood at £2,379m, a sharp reduction from the £3,027m from this point last year.
The impact of higher mortgage rates and the cost of living crisis has resulted in slower housing activity – especially among first-time buyers. These negative influences are starting to ease and Taylor Wimpey’s activity is starting to pick up.
Taylor Wimpey’s assertion that the UK housing was recovering corroborated Persimmon’s improving trading activity outlined yesterday.
In terms of outlook, Taylor Wimpey expects completions to be in the range of 9,000 to 10,500 for FY2023.
“It’s encouraging to see that demand’s recovered slightly during the spring selling season, supported by mortgage rates that have pulled back from recent highs,” said Aarin Chiekrie, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.
“As a result, Taylor Wimpey’s seen an uptick in sales rates since the sluggish tail-end of 2022, while pricing remained resilient. There are also some underlying tailwinds supporting the longer-term market. Brits are ideologically committed to home ownership and the country has been in a prolonged period of housing undersupply, a trend that’s unlikely to change anytime soon.”
Taylor Wimpey said they were set to pay a 4.78p per share dividend on 12 May 2023.
