Taylor Wimpey, the housebuilder, said market conditions had improved so much that it had already sold all of its stock of homes for 2009 and was looking forward to raising prices on houses to be sold next year.

The upbeat statement mirrored rival, Redrow, which said that it expected its average prices to start increasing soon. Yesterday, Halifax said that house prices rose by 1.2 per cent in October to an average £165,528.

Taylor Wimpey said: "Our sales focus remains on achieving price increases as we build our 2010 order book."

The company's selling price for private homes rose 9 per cent from the £163,000 price achieved in the first half, helped by deliberately raising the proportion of houses to flats it sells as well as price inflation.

Taylor Wimpey added that performance since the end of the first half on July 1 remained "encouraging", with "solid rates of sales" in the autumn and without the usual industry seasonal summer slowdown.

The company is selling the equivalent of just over half a home on each of its 317 sites, at a weekly rate of 0.56 compared to the 0.4 rate it achieved in the second half of last year when the credit crisis was in full swing.

Taylor Wimpey did not reveal the total number of houses sold this year but analysts estimate 10,500 homes.

Cancellation rates continue to fall, at 16 per cent so far, a reduction from 19 per cent in the first six months of last year and 46 per cent in the second half of last year.

However, the group, which raised £510 million in a rights issue in May, said it remained cautious about making large scale land purchases, with sales in the land market well below normal levels.

"The continuation of improved market conditions into the autumn selling season has been reassuring, although sustaining the current recovery will be dependent on improvements in mortgage availability and the wider economy," the builder warned.

However, Taylor Wimpey said its hard-hit North American housing division was showing signs of recovery, where sales rates, at 0.6 sales per site per week, were flat on the first half and cancellation rates had eased.

But it made no mention of a potential disposal of the division, a widely rumoured move which some investors are pressing.

The builder added: "With affordability at extremely good levels there is the potential for significant price rises once economic conditions fully stabilise."

Net debt has been slashed from £1.87 biliion a year ago to £860 million, and it expects the end of year figure to fall below £800 million, £100 million lower than it originally forecast.

Meanwhile, Redrow said its total reservations in the same time period were 47 per cent ahead of the same time last year with cancellation rates having returned to the historic norm. It also predicted that it would soon see a trend of rising average selling prices as it was able to begin selling a greater proportion of larger family homes.

Shares in Taylor Wimpey jumped 3.33p to 40.3p and those of Redrow gained 10.6p to 150p.

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