Market report: Barratt leads housebuilders’ charge

Housebuilders propped up the FTSE 100 after the sector was lifted by a report that showed the number of new buyers increased in June for the first time since November 2016.

Barratt Developmentsled the charge, rising 30.2p to 614.4p after survey data from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors showed “a modest rise in the appetite from potential purchasers to acquire property at the national level”.

Newly agreed sales also crept into positive territory for the first time in 28 months and prices rose across the country, except in London and the south east of England where they continued to fall.

The survey showed “reassuringly stable demand trend” and should be supportive for housebuilders both in terms of demand and pricing, analysts at Citi said.

Barratt had already said on Wednesday it expected full year pre-tax profits to beat existing forecasts as sales continued to boom and cost-cutting boosted its bottom line. Fellow housebuilder Taylor Wimpey ended 2.5p higher at 161p, while Berkeley added 53p to £37.92, a rise of 1.4pc.