The new builds housing market seems to have come through the first quarter of 2011 on a positive note. According to recent data information from two of the UK’s major housebuilders, things look optimistic. There has been an increase in potential buyers visiting building sites as spring comes into gear.

Despite a slow bounce back from the end of 2010 which had new builds hindered by the holiday season and harsh winter weather, homebuilders are seeing an upswing. Spring is generally a season with more buyers and according to Persimmon, the second largest housebuilder in the UK, not only are sales up but they are outperforming this same time last year. In a comparison to last year, sales reservations were up 12 per cent for this year. Currently, their order book is level with the last year at this same time at £1.14 billion.

The UK’s third largest housebuilder, Taylor Wimpey, is reporting an order book with 5,861 homes. This is an increase of 21 per cent from last year’s 4,684. Taylor Wimpey is meeting their expectations and again this is another housebuilder with an optimistic outlook for the new build housing market. It is a welcomed viewpoint after the deeply hit recession of 2008-2009 that crushed the new build housing sector.

Persimmon has seen more visitors coming to the building sites and cancellations in visitation appointments has remained low at 16 per cent. Taylor Wimpey has been seeing pretty much the same, with "encouraging trends" for visitor appointment levels and sales rates. They also have a lot of interest in their new mortgage product that allows a 5 per cent deposit on a property and is called Take 5.

Panmure Gordon analyst, Rachael Waring, remarked on Persimmon stating, "As one of the highest quality stocks in the sector, the group is well placed to deal with a range of market conditions."