Housebuilder MJ Gleeson said it sold 1,723 homes over the last year, a 13.8% fall on the previous 12 months, “reflecting the downturn in the wider economy and the immediate impact on buyer confidence as a result of higher interest rates”.  

The London-listed firm adds that in the second half of the year the market deteriorated as it sold 829 homes, a 22.4% fall compared to the same period a year ago.  

However, it adds that “selling prices were resilient, underpinned by a shortage of supply, and helped to offset material and labour cost increases experienced across the sector in the period”.  

The average selling price of its homes lifted 11.3% to £186,200, the firm says in a trading update for the year to 30 June.   

It added there was “a significant shift in buyer demographics” in the second half of the year, with first-time buyers accounting for around 50% of sales, falling from 71% a year ago.  

While sales to over-55s doubled to 20% over the same period.  

The current market has seen housebuilders struggle under higher interest rates, higher house prices, borrowers grappling to afford higher mortgages, elevated labour and material costs and an end to government support schemes such as the stamp duty tax break and the Help to Buy programme.  

The update comes as UK house prices fell last month at the fastest annual pace since June 2011, according to the latest Halifax Price Index.  

Average house price fell by 0.1% in June, a third consecutive monthly decline while the annual rate of house price growth fell by 2.6%, from 1.1% in May.  

A typical UK property now costs £285,932, against a peak of £293,992 last August.  

Larger housebuilder Barret Developments is due to release a trading update next Thursday (13 July) it is currently guiding the market that it will complete between 16,500 and 17,000 homes, against a forecast of between 18,400 and 18,800 completions at the start of the year.