FSA Keeps Eye on Housebuilder Shares

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has voiced concerns about a deliberate attempt to undermine the housebuilders, after a third day of heavy selling of shares in the sector.

Persimmon, Barratt and Taylor Wimpey have seen hundreds of millions of pounds wiped off their values over the past few days.

The FSA said that it would be closely monitoring housebuilding firm, and it has already been in contact with several to establish if they should be filing statements to the stockmarket to explain their share price fall, or prove that the falls are justified, according to the Guardian.

Barratt was the first company to issue a rebuttal against speculation yesterday, confirming that it was on course to meet forecasts of about 18,300 house completions before 30th June.

More than 75m Barratt shares changed hands on Wednesday last week - seven times more than the daily average - as the housebuilder's share price dived once again - at one point   trading 42% down on the previous day.

Taylor Wimpey led the falls last week, with share prices collapsing a further 21%   after a 20% fall in value last Monday. Shares in Bellway, Persimmon and Redrow all fell between 8% and 10%.

House sales have fallen to their lowest number for 30 years, according to the latest data from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

The body said that UK house sales in the three months to May fell to 17.4 per surveyor, the lowest number since 1978, and a fall of 31.5% over the past 12 months. The figure is less than half that seen at the height of the housing boom in 2002.