The leading developer, whose Yorkshire office is in Lingcroft Lane, builder reported a 6% rise in private sales per outlet over the first quarter, while it said average sale prices in the private market lifted 6% to around £283,000 since the start of the year.
Persimmon added that its forward order book was up 18% year-on-year in the first quarter, keeping it on track to complete between 10,000 to 10,500 homes over the full year.
But it is still having to offer incentives on prices, at around 4% to 5% to boost demand.
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The housing market has been dealt a blow by interest rates being hiked to the highest levels since 2008 and wider economic uncertainty.
But mortgage rates have eased back and a number of players in the sector are reporting improved trading.
Taylor Wimpey said earlier last week that the housing market was stabilising, though it still reported a dip in its sales rate.
Dean Finch, group chief executive at Persimmon, said: “Persimmon has had a good start to the year and is on track to deliver growth in completions to between 10,000-10,500 for the full year.
“Our first quarter performance was in line with expectations, and we saw an improvement in sales rates alongside firm pricing. Trading over recent weeks has been encouraging with robust visitor numbers and enquiries, giving us confidence for the remainder of the year.
Mr Finch continued: “Overall, our private forward order book is up 18% on the prior year with the embedded private average selling price ahead of the position at the start of the year.
“We are making good progress in expanding our outlet network and we will continue to position the business for success, maintaining our focus on quality and customer service, and converting our land holdings into active developments.”
A trading update issued last week, just prior to the company staging its AGM in York, also reported home completions of 1,027 in the first three months of 2024, compared with 1,136 in the same period last year.
Forward sales had increased from £1.69bn to £1.75bn over the same period.
The number of plots the company was holding had decreased from 86,400 to 82,500.
Persimmon also said it opened 28 gross outlets in the first quarter of this year, with a total of 263 outlets, up 2% on the position at the start of the year. Around 30 gross outlets are planned to open by the end of June as part of it’s “ambition to build back to pre-Covid outlet levels over the medium term.”
