MARKET REPORT: Shares on the move as housing freeze thaws

It was a rollercoaster day for estate agencies and builders as the Government lifted restrictions that brought the housing market to a standstill.

As of yesterday, viewings can be carried out, estate agents can open again and removal firms and conveyancers can return to work – provided they follow social distancing protocols.

It is estimated 450,000 buyers and renters had put moving plans on hold since the Government introduced the previous ‘stay home’ advice. 

Now, the housing industry believes there is huge pent-up demand after effectively freezing the market for almost two months.

But others are less convinced, worrying that people’s finances are more fragile than before the crisis and that this will put them off big commitments such as moving house.

Investors had similarly mixed feelings. Shares in most major housebuilders and estate agents spiked in early trading but for some this burned off later in the day. 

Although FTSE 100-listed Berkeley Group climbed 1.1 per cent, or 46p, to 4150p, its fellow blue-chip peer Persimmon was down 1.3 per cent, or 29p, to 2151p and Taylor Wimpey fell 2.7 per cent, or 3.95p, to 141.9p.

London estate agents Foxtons rose 4.7 per cent, or 1.9p, to 42.2p, while online group Purplebricks rallied 13.3 per cent, or 4.5p, to 38.35p.

But Rightmove fell 1 per cent, or 5p, to 517p, while Savills dipped 0.9 per cent, or 8.5p, to 943.5p.

UK GDP figures that showed the sharpest contraction since the financial crisis likely washed away some of the optimism about the reopening of the housing market.

The Footsie fell 1.5 per cent, or 90.72 points, to 5904.05 and the FTSE 250 lost 1.8 per cent, or 294.92 points, to 15,878.12 after the Office for National Statistics showed GDP output collapsed by 5.8 per cent in March alone and 2 per cent in the first three months of the year.

There were, however, a few bright spots on the Footsie.

The UK’s biggest listed technology group, software provider Sage, climbed 1.8 per cent, or 11.6p, to 666.6p after it reported profits surged 40 per cent to £275million in the six months to the end of March. 

It has not had to resort to furloughing any staff or making redundancies at the moment – but said it was beginning to feel the pinch from the coronavirus and finding it harder to sign up new customers.

Plumbing giant Ferguson managed to inch 0.9 per cent higher, up 56p, to 6024p despite revenue at its UK Wolseley division falling 60 per cent in April due to lockdown.

And traders cheered as steam and pumps experts Spirax-Sarco Engineering pledged to pay its dividend and said its business was only slightly disrupted in the first four months of the year, sending it up 2.2 per cent, or 204p, to 9466p.

Elsewhere, ailing shopping centre landlord Intu Properties shed 5.2 per cent, or 0.25p, to 4.61p after it completed the sale of its stake in a Spanish shopping mall.

Intu will pocket £203million of the £405million deal, while the rest will go to co-owner the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.

Eastern European vodka maker Stock Spirits shot 17.5 per cent, or 34p, up to 228p, as customers stocked up on drinks ahead of tax hikes in Poland and the Czech Republic – its biggest markets – sending profits 152 per cent higher to £13million.

Energy group Premier Oil made more modest gains, rising 2.6 per cent, or 0.69p, to 27.69p, after saying it was in talks to cut the price of a proposed £511million deal to buy some BP assets in the North Sea.

Paving slab supplier Marshalls saw sales fall 27 per cent in the first four months of the year, with an unsurprising sharp drop in the last week of March and during April. 

The group, down 2.7 per cent, or 17p, to 603p, could cut as many as 400 jobs.