CITYWATCH ALL FALL DOWN

摘要

April may have been a kind month for housebuilders and their withered share prices, but they do not seem to have bloomed in May. In fact, only Barratt has held onto its gains. Persimmon, Bellway, . Taylor Wimpey and Bovis all slipped down from their month highs of 5 May.rnOn the face of it, this is surprising: the financial turmoil that threatened to put some big beasts out of business has beenrnresolved, and there is much talk of green shoots in the sector. So what's wrong?rn"We know these companies will survive," says Leslie Kent, an analyst with JM Finn. "But now they have the financing sorted out, investors are asking where their earnings will come from."rnWhere indeed? Much is made of the 10% quarter-on-quarter increase in housing applications between Februaryrnand April, but the reality is there has been a 53% collapse compared with the same quarter last year (see right). And if you strip out public sector housing the figure is 63%.