North of England sees Surge in Building Materials Sales - says BMF.

LONDON, January 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Builders merchants across the UK are maintaining strong sales growth, reflecting the continued rise in property values. The Builders Merchants Federation (BMF), the trade association which represents over 1,000 merchant outlets in the UK, says that its members saw a seasonally-adjusted 6.3% rise in sales during November 2003, on top of October's 3.9% hike - over the same period last year.

President of the BMF, John Hauxwell reckons that the upward trend is likely to be maintained. "Despite dire predictions at the beginning of 2003," he says, "property prices have continued to rise, scoring gains of around 15% over the year. Of course, the rate of the rise has slowed but here at the BMF we don't see any reason to disagree with the big mortgage lenders who expect an extension of the uptrend in 2004.

This is good news for builders merchants who naturally benefit from a strong property market coupled with low interest rates. And it's not only new construction that stimulates sales of building materials: many home owners are choosing to improve and extend their existing houses, often taking advantage of the equity available in them."

Like the property market, the latest sales figures from the BMF do show regional variations. The North of England faired best with a massive surge in sales of nearly 20%, compared to November 2002. The South East on the other hand posted just 4.6% while the North West bucked the trend ...