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* Forward sales value drops in first 15 wks
* Sticks with forecast towards lower end of range
* Weakening prices putting pressure on UK homebuilders
* Shares down more than 3 pct
(Recasts, adds analyst comments, industry data)
By Pushkala Aripaka and Samantha Machado
Oct 16 (Reuters) - Britain's biggest housebuilder Barratt
Developments reported tepid sales growth and a dip in
the value of homes sold in the first months of its financial
year, the latest sign of pressure on developers from a weakening
UK property market.
Shares in the Midlands-based builder slid more than 3% in
morning trade as it stuck by its medium-term financial targets
but said forward sales were down in value in the first 15 weeks
of the year starting in July.
The signs of weakening prices as Barratt swings towards
delivering more lower-priced homes, chimed with those of smaller
competitor Bellway earlier this week and came with a warning of
the risks of Brexit.
"Whilst there is economic and political uncertainty, we
continue to be disciplined and have a strong balance sheet and
cash position," Barratt said.
With about two weeks to go before the United Kingdom is due
to leave the world's biggest trading bloc, it remains unclear on
what terms it will leave or indeed whether it will leave at all,
despite progress in talks in the past week.
UK house price growth has been flattening off for months as
buyers worry the split might bring a deeper shock while outright
falls in prices in London have driven developers to change
strategy to cope.
Barratt has been trying to cut costs by changing the design
of the houses it builds - reducing the roof pitch and height of
houses to cut labour and materials costs - and reducing exposure
to central London. It said it was making progress on its plans
to improve profit margins.
Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, cast doubt on
whether the company would be able to resist the pressures
created by the weakening market and rising building costs.
"Barratt is still talking about achieving 'margin
improvements', crucially without compromising quality – or in
other words without building lower calibre houses," Mould said.
"Either Barratt has found an approach that has eluded its
rivals or it seems likely shareholders will face disappointment
at some stage."
Barratt reiterated that it expects the volume of house sales
to grow towards the lower end of its medium-term target range of
3% to 5% annually.
Total forward sales, including joint ventures as on Oct. 13,
rose to 12,963 units from 12,903 units a year earlier while the
value of those homes declined 2.4% to 3.07 billion pounds ($3.92
billion) and sales per site per week were flat.
($1 = 0.7828 pounds)
(Reporting by Samantha Machado and Pushkala Aripaka in
Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Elaine Hardcastle)
