London, June 17, 2026, 13:05 BST
- Persimmon was up in London afternoon trade, outperforming a mostly flat FTSE 100.
- UK house prices climbed 3.8% in the year to April, official data showed. The rise pushed homebuilder shares higher.
- JPMorgan kept its sector pick on Persimmon, sticking with the UK builder as its top name.
Persimmon Plc shares traded higher Wednesday, stretching a rally in the sector. UK homebuilders moved up after fresh government house-price data, with investors shrugging off some uneven signals from the mortgage market.
Persimmon shares rose 1.6% to 1,096 pence in early afternoon trading. Barratt Redrow added 1.5% and Berkeley Group climbed 1.8%. The FTSE 100 was little changed, holding near 10,487.02.
Why does it matter? Housebuilders have mostly moved as a rates trade. UK consumer price inflation stayed at 2.8% in May, the Office for National Statistics said, keeping the Bank of England under pressure on rates ahead of Thursday’s decision. Prices are still over target, growth is still weak.
UK house price numbers gave a lift to the sector. ONS reported house prices up 3.8% in April from a year earlier. March had shown no annual increase. Reuters said homebuilders gained 1.5% after the data.
Persimmon picked up a nod from JPMorgan this week. The bank made the York-based homebuilder its top pick in the sector, dropping Taylor Wimpey and Vistry down to “underweight”. The analysts pointed to Persimmon’s cheaper average selling price, spread across regions, and its vertical integration, which they said help with cost pressure. Proactiveinvestors UK
The note also pointed out the flip side. JPMorgan now sees about 100 basis points of margin compression for the sector in 2027, instead of the margin expansion it predicted before. (A basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point.)
Little in the way of fresh company news has come through, so investors are still picking over Persimmon’s April update. The builder stuck to its 2026 delivery goal. Net private sales per outlet, excluding bulk deals, are up 3% for the year so far, but enquiries have eased as mortgage rates go higher. CEO Dean Finch said Persimmon was “mindful” of risks to consumer confidence. JPMorgan’s Zaim Beekawa called the update “robust”. Reuters
Hargreaves Lansdown equity analyst Aarin Chiekrie said Persimmon’s order book increased 5% to £2.5 billion, with private average selling prices up 5% to roughly £306,900 in the first months of 2026. Chiekrie wrote that Persimmon’s use of in-house bricks, tiles and timber could cut costs by about £5,000 per plot.
UK housing numbers are firmer now, but there’s a risk that won’t hold up. Rightmove said asking prices dropped 0.6% in June, the steepest June fall in 14 years. Buyer demand in May was 10% lower than last year. That looks like sellers are trimming prices to close sales, not a sign of strong demand.
Rates still drive the outlook. The Bank of England’s Bank Rate is steady at 3.75%. Every economist in a Reuters poll—65 in total—predicted no move on June 18. But Sanjay Raja at Deutsche Bank said “the odds of a rate rise are increasing,” so cheaper mortgages could be further off than some hope. Reuters
