Stockland says interest rates key to further market improvement

Stockland said consumers needed a stable, or falling, interest rate environment for sales to increase in Australia’s housing market, even as it said new home sales had jumped by 18 per cent in the three months to March 31 and new inquiries were up strongly.

The country’s largest listed diversified developer said net new sales in master-planned communities picked up to 1242 in the third quarter, and volumes were expected to remain at current levels in the near term.