Housing market trends impact Countrywide

(ShareCast News) - Countrywide said it had an "encouraging performance" in the fourth quarter of the year, but current housing market trends have had an impact.The FTSE 250 company said in a trading update for the year to 31 December that its Retail and London businesses were affected.It noted the latest market data showed transaction volumes running 6% below the previous year.However, it did say it was looking to the future, specifically investing in the private rented sector."Notwithstanding the proposed changes to buy to let stamp duty and mortgage interest relief, we still see the private rented sector performing a key role in the overall residential property market."The company also flagged that underlying EBITDA for the year is expected to show a modest improvement on previous expectations.Nonetheless, it wouldn't speculate on how the market will perform this year."It is too early to predict what the trend in residential transactions will show in 2016, although approved mortgage volumes including owner occupier in recent months have been ahead of the previous year, which is a positive indicator."Shares in Countrywide surged 24.81p (7.48%) at 0859 GMT to 356.71p per share.