Persimmon revenue rises 21pc on UK housing recovery The increased demand helped push the average selling price of a Persimmon home up 4pc to £180,900 over the previous year, while the volume of new house sales increased by 16pc from 2012 to 11,528 last year. The company had a particularly strong finish to the year, with 6,506 homes completed in the final six months of 2013, a 30pc increase compared to the first half of the year, while second half sales were 25pc ahead of the previous year. Following the trading update analysts at Numis Securities increased their rating on the housebuilder from 'reduce' to 'hold' and said the "surprise on the upside" with regard to volume growth was a "credit to management accelerating build delivery through the summer to take advantage of the improved sales rate emanating from the Help to Buy scheme." Shares in the housebuilder rose 0.8pc in early trading on Wednesday following the update. In a separate statement, housing and construction firm Galliford said it was anticipating a record half year profit, driven by strong performance in its housebuilding firm, and that its pipeline of opportunities in the construction sector was growing despite still-challenging conditions. The updates comes on the same day that Halifax said house prices fell month-on-month in December for the first time in almost a year. On a monthly basis, prices edged downwards by 0.6pc in December, marking the first fall in 11 months and taking the average house price to £173,467. But on an annual basis house prices surged 7.5pc last month, close to a 7.7pc rise recorded in November, which was the highest annual lift seen in six years.