They would say that, wouldn't they. More of a wish than a news item.

If Persimmon sold Christmas turkeys they would probably tell us that their birds had just voted in favour of Christmas

KF, Berks, UK

It doesn't matter that the average house is 7x average salary. The majority of buyers have a house to sell, in which there will be plenty of equity (if they bought more than 2 years ago), so even restricting borrowing to 3x salary, they can still afford an average house.

Rob, Bradford,

"Persimmon says housing market will not worsen."
Meanwhile, in the real world, Halifax is closing 53 of its 204 estate agents branches before the end of the year.

John, London, UK

Erm Phil - are you not aware that the average house price is about 7x the average UK Salary even now?I'd call that unsustainable considering prices were just 4x the average salary in 2000.This is another example of a press release from a party with a vested interest in the market improving. dream on

matt, london,

Gareth, I suppose when you receive a bonus at work or have a lucky win, you give it all away to charity. Nice that there are such altruistic people out there. Next you will probably tell us that we should all be housed and clothed for free. Get a grip, if companies don't make a profit, they fold.

Justin, London,

Sorry Ian, wishful thinking. People should stop going on about wanting prices to fall and carry on renting/get a better job.

phil, harrogate,

£100.9 million profit? Time for a windfall tax.

Gareth Jones, Dusseldorf, Germany

The price of housing in the UK is still absurdly high and the real price correction has yet to begin. When the recession starts to bite and unemployment rises rapidly we can expect to see price reductions in the order of 60%.

Ian , London,

Persimmon have not got the message. There are PLENTY of mortgages out there but you need a deposit, the last 10 years have not been "NORMAL" but we are now returning to normal and it is CERTAIN that the banks have brought the era of cheap money to an end for good.

Chris, Chipping Norton,

How bad for them only £100.9 MILLION profit for the first six months.Im sure the will not hesitate to lay off a couple more thousand skilled trades

Dean, verwood, U.K

House builder, whose profits are 64% down on this time last year, says market will not get any worse ... lol!

Andy, Bath, UK

yes why would'nt sells and prices fall any more? Know one is buying and everyone is finding life very hard, to pay bills and the morgages. So in the real world what do you think!

oliver, Colchester,

I see this as a sign that house prices are close to bottoming out and it is increasingly unlikely we will see the 20%+ falls some have predicted.

phil, harrogate,

Yet Persimmon shares have shot up 9% today. It seems the City see this news as better than expected. What I dont understand is the suggestion of a sale price fall of just over 4% when Halifax and Nationwide are seeing 8-9%. However land registry, covering all sales sees less of a fall. Confused!!

basil bell, bath,