Barratt says market stability continues

LONDON (Reuters) - Housebuilder Barratt Developments (BDEV.L) said on Thursday it has continued to see early signs of market stability as prices begin to level.

Britain's largest housebuilder by volume said its total completed sales fell 29 percent to 13,202 in the year to end-June. Private sales were 25 percent lower at 2,069, while social housing completions accounted for 15.7 percent of total completions.

House prices, which have fallen by a fifth since the start of the downturn, are also showing signs of stabilising according to recent data. Halifax, Britain's biggest mortgage lender, said on Wednesday house prices only fell 0.5 percent in June against an annual decline of 12.5 percent, the slowest since last July.

This was reinforced by a positive trading statement from rival builder Persimmon (PSN.L) on Tuesday which said volumes and forward orders were better than last year and prices had stabilised in some locations.

But Barratt warned any sustained improvement in trading will not be possible until there is a greater availability of mortgage finance.

In a trading update ahead of its full year results in September, Barratt said its net debt is expected to stand at 1.28 billion pounds at end-June, against 1.42 billion pounds at the end of 2008. The company was left saddled with debt following its acquisition of Wilson Bowden in 2007.

Barratt said it will not write down the value of its land holdings further and is operating within its financial covenants.

(Reporting by Lorraine Turner)