<p><span>Persimmon’s first half legal completions fell </span><span>35% against the previous year but with the business reporting an “excellent start” to the second half including a notable rise in weekly private sales. </span><span></span></p> <p><span>The volume housebuilder said that build delays caused by the pandemic lowered the number of legal completions achieved during the six months to June 30 2020 to 4,900 from H1 2019’s 7,584. </span><span></span></p> <p><span>The average price of the homes rose slightly to £225,066 from last year’s £216,942. Persimmon said that 50% of its private legal completions during the half year were to first time buyers. </span></p> <p><span>Its pre-tax profit during the period dropped 42% <span>to </span><span>£292.4 million. </span></span></p><p><span>Total revenues were £1.19 billion against the previous £1.75 billion, with new housing revenues falling 33% to £1.10 billion. </span></p><p><span>The year had started strongly, Persimmon said, with the business seeing </span><span>in the </span><span>first 11 weeks</span><span> </span><span>around a 10% increase in its average private sales rate per site compared to the same period in 2019, before the onset of Covid-19.</span></p> <p><span>Since the start of July, its average weekly net reservations per site climbed 49% above the equivalent period last year.</span><span> Persimmon said that its forward order book – including legal completions taken …