Stockland positive on its home sales growth for 2010
Real estate developer Stockland claimed it's on the right track as it posts a 5,000 net deposits on homes at the end of April for the fiscal 2010.
Stockland also declared its fiscal earning guidance peaked at 29 cents per share, following a loss of 104 cents per share of last year.
Matthew Quinn, Stockland's managing director, told reporters in Melbourne today that the residential communities sales momentum of the company remained intact, with net deposits totaled to almost 1,900 between January and April 2010.
Stockland's financial year will end on June 30.
Stockhand said it commenced its fiscal 2010 with 1,215 contracts and is expecting an increase by the end of the year.
“We're on track to deliver record residential sales this financial year,” Mr. Quinn said.
"Our Residential Communities margins are expected to increase by between one per cent to 1.5 per cent in the second half due to recent price increases, particularly in Victoria and Western Australia.
"We've seen our buyer composition shift, with upgraders making up around 44 per cent of FY10 net deposits to April, compared with 36 per cent in FY09."
Mr. Quinn added its first home buyers had positive come backs in most states, but received strong results in Victoria, where its first home buyers grant increased to $20,000 and extended to June 2011 for new homes.
Although there is a challenge on the decline of affordability due to the sixth interest rate increase, Mr. Quinn remains positive that there will be a continued investor interest.
He also announced to extend its market share in Victoria and Western Australia, where it will acquire five new residential land parcels for the FY10. The new sites, he said, will result in a 4,750 lots that will cost around $250 million.