House builder Persimmon (LON:PSN) has confirmed that the housing market was given a boost by the Conservative Party's victory in the General Election.
The company said confidence in the housing market had increased considerably since the threat of Labour or Liberal Democratic politicians imposing a windfall tax on wealthy home owners had receded, although the housing market was doing pretty well in the run-up the election anyway.
Persimmon said new home sales rose 7% in the first half of the year to 6,855 units from 6,408 in the first half of 2014. Total revenues grew 12% to £1.34bn from £1.20bn the year before.
Visitor numbers to Persimmon's sites showed no growth year-on-year, however, which might account for the lukewarm reception to the trading update; the shares were down 21p at 1,995p in the first half hour of trading following the release of house price data from the Nationwide building society that suggested the housing market is cooling.
The average selling price for the group increased by 4% - well above the rate of inflation to around £195,000 (2014: £186,970).
Shares in the company have increased by 480% in the last five years, helped by a generous dividend policy, and the company is still rolling in cash, with cash holdings at the end of June standing at around £278mln, down from £326mln a year earlier.