Barratt: Investors Shrug Off Signs of Firming Homebuyer Appetite Amid Soft Fiscal 2025 Guidance

No-moat Barratt Developments’ July 2024 trading update proved mixed, offering on one hand signs that homebuyer confidence continues in 2024 to rebound from its 2023 cyclical low point. On the other, Barratt delivered soft fiscal 2025 guidance that underwhelmed investors. Pleasingly, Barratt’s weekly private home sale rate increased to 0.69 sales per active outlet in the second half of fiscal 2024, up 24% sequentially on a seasonally adjusted basis. Furthermore, Barratt’s private home sales rate firmed as the second half of fiscal 2024 progressed, underscoring the improving conditions in the UK housing market and according with recent improvement in observed housing market datapoints.