Interest rate rises are taking the steam out of Britain's once red-hot housing market, builders Taylor Woodrow and George Wimpey warned on Wednesday, sending their shares down nearly 3 percent.
The companies, which are merging to create a 5 billion pound ($9.98 billion) plus market leader in Britain's biggest-ever housebuilding deal, also said the flagging US housing market had turned slightly worse, with no immediate signs of recovery.
The cautious tone contrasts with positive comments on Monday from Persimmon, Britain's largest housebuilder by market value, which said the UK market remained resilient, and more interest rises would not be detrimental.
"In the UK, we currently anticipate less buoyant market conditions in the second half of the year, due to the impact of recent interest-rate changes and the effect of these on customer confidence," Woodrow and Wimpey said in separate statements.
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