Housebuilder slices £100,000 off asking prices
Vistry cut 17% from some of its house prices after suffering from falling sales and rising costs.
A major housebuilder has sliced more than £100,000 off some of its house prices to deal with struggling sales figures.
Vistry cut 17% from some of its asking amounts as it was forced to raise cash quickly.
Steep discounts
Analysis by investment bank RBC (Royal Bank of Canada) discovered some steep discounts in Vistry’s new build pricing, the Daily Telegraph reports.
RBC found that of more than 1,200 properties put on the market by Vistry during May, the average discount was 8.4%.
The company has seen its shares plummet 65% in the past 12 months amid profit warnings.
Stalled
Anthony Codling, Managing Director of Equity Research at RBC Capital Markets, pointed to Vistry’s reliance on the Government’s stalled social housing building programme as one of the causes of the company’s problems.
War in the Middle East has hit all major housebuilders with rising costs, and higher mortgage rates hitting demand.
Targeted pricing
A Vistry spokesman said: “We have clearly outlined the actions we are taking to improve cash generation and reduce debt levels, which include targeted pricing initiatives to reduce inventory.
“Whilst current market conditions are challenging for all companies in our sector, the group has a robust forward order book of £4.5billion, and we continue to build at scale and pace, delivering the homes this country so desperately needs.”
Last year, Vistry was one of seven housebuilders to agree to pay a £100million ‘fine’ after allegations it colluded to fix prices.
