SALES volumes for York-based national house builder Persimmon have been “ahead of expectations” for the first 16 weeks of the year.

That was the encouraging news relayed to shareholders at yesterday’s annual meeting at York Racecourse, but at the same time they were told that pricing and margins remained under pressure.

Persimmon has already issued a first quarter interim management statement revealing that about 6,500 homes were reserved, contracted or legally completed in the period, with total sales of about £960 million.

The statement showed that visitor levels to Persimmon sites so far this year “remain resilient” despite being about 15 per cent down on the level for the same period last year. Cancellation rates over the same period averaged around 16 per cent – a distinct improvement over the 35 per cent cancellation rate for the last quarter of 2008.

In spite of operating from 16 per cent fewer active sites than at the same point last year, sales volumes over recent weeks have been ahead of those achieved in the comparative weeks of April last year, when there was a significant deterioration in market conditions.

The group continues to focus on rigorous control over working capital which is reflected in the reduction in its active sites and in its holdings of part-exchange property, currently at about £30 million worth, compared £55 million at the end of last December.

By March, Persimmon had renegotiated a finance package which would take the business through to March 2012, and debt levels which this month stood art about £680 million are expected to reduce this year. The statement adds: “While the recent improvement in market conditions is encouraging, we will remain cautious about the outlook until mortgage availability improves further and employment prospects become less uncertain.

“We are, however, confident that our position in the market will provide a strong platform for growth when the market improves.”