More people are looking round Barratt homes

Its comments came as it reported a 10.2% increase in profits to �194.6m for the half-year to 31 December.

Barratt said trading had been tough, with the squeeze on the availability and cost of mortgages hitting sales.

The firm said that as of 17 February, forward sales stood at at �1.61bn, down 7% from the same point last year.

"Visitor and reservation levels continue to improve and we remain optimistic that this will continue throught the balance of the spring selling season," said Mark Clare, Barratt's group chief executive.

On Tuesday, rival housebuilder Persimmon said it had also seen an increase in the number of visitors to its show homes in 2008, although it added that converting these visits to sales "remained challenging".