Market report: Housebuilders topple after Halifax delivers bleak housing update

Investors building up shares in residential property giants may have been bricking it this morning when they saw a bleak update from mortgage lender Halifax.

The bank’s latest housing market tracker published on Friday said public confidence in the outlook for British house prices has dropped to its lowest in nearly five years.

Managing director Russell Galley said buyers were less worried about the prospect of higher interest rates, and their concerns “continue to be centred on raising deposits and job security”.

Housebuilders were among the biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 index.

Berkeley fell 79p to 3865p, Persimmon was down 39p to 2851p and shares in Taylor Wimpey dropped by 2.9p to 204.5p.

However, the blue-chip index still managed to rise, up 24.38 points to 7510.88, as it joined upbeat world stock markets this morning after the world’s largest technology firms smashed forecasts last night.

Online retail behemoth Amazon said its sales jumped over the summer, as shoppers took advantage of its “Prime Day” promotions on its website and bought goods at its newly acquired business, Whole Foods.

Third-quarter revenue increased by $11 billion to $43.7 billion (£33.4 billion) compared with the same period last year.

Google’s parent, Alphabet, and software giant Microsoft also posted quarterly figures that outperformed Wall Street expectations.

Meanwhile the FTSE 250 put on 4.5 points to 20,167.88. Risers included gambling software group Playtech, which gained 13p to 961p.

The City welcomed news that the firm, founded by Israeli billionaire Teddy Sagi, had snapped up data analytics software specialist BetBuddy. No price was divulged.

Elsewhere, components maker Laird was the strongest performer on the FTSE All-Share, after it said its full-year profits are likely to come in at the top end of forecasts.

The manufacturer of wireless receivers for firms such as Apple, also revealed revenues in the third quarter surged 19% to £245 million.

That marks something of a turnaround after a tough year in which Laird had to warn on profits and scrap its dividend. It rose 5.18p to 157.43p.

Investec analyst Marc Elliott said the update should be a “confidence booster”.

He added: “We are optimistic that continued investment and focus into the group’s varied activities can support growth ahead of our forecasts.”

In the retail sector, sports fashion and footwear firm Footasylum announced it will be valued at £171.3 million when it joins the public markets in November.

Established in 2005 by the founders of JD Sports, David Makin and John Wardle, the company unveiled plans to float on AIM earlier this month.