Buyers can get up to $90,000 off apartments R&F Property’s Live City development.
A Footscray development offering apartments for sale at an almost $100,000 discount from their pre-coronavirus prices is in high demand.
But it comes as realestate.com.au figures reveal how much the federal government’s $25,000 HomeBuilder grants scheme has skewed new-home buyers towards housing estates.
Early this month, R&F Property Australia offered a 10 per cent discount on 10 homes in the recently built first stage of Live City Melbourne.
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The deal cut prices by $39,000 for one-bedroom homes and $90,000 for three-bedroom pads.
National sales and marketing director Jon Quayle said they would add a further 20 apartments to the deal following high demand.
“This is an alternative for new home buyers who still want to live in the city,” Mr Quayle said.
The development’s first stage was recently finished and apartments are ready to move into.
Many of those looking at making a purchase now were professionals and first-home buyers linked to health and education hubs in Footscray. Some approached Live City three months ago, but hit pause while looking into estates and projects eligible for HomeBuilder grants, before circling back. Mr Quayle said interstate investors had also bought during the city’s stage four lockdown.
The apartments are part of the 15-storey, 208-apartment first stage of the Kinnears Ropeworks redevelopment.
The finished apartments come with impressive vistas over Melbourne.
They feature open-plan living spaces, timber floors, and rise above a new lifestyle precinct including eateries, childcare and a supermarket.
Despite the project’s popularity, house-and-land estates now account for almost two thirds of demand in the new-homes sector, up from a 38 per cent five-year average, realestate.com.au figures show.
The firm’s executive manager for economic research Cameron Kusher said apartment and estate inquiries were both more than 40 per cent down from their peak levels earlier this year.
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“HomeBuilder changed the nature of inquiry. For the last five years the bulk of inquiry has gone to apartments,” he said.
“That could also be a factor of … a bit of land with a house being more appealing.”
Mr Kusher said he expected the downward trend in inquiries would continue for new homes in September, then rebound similarly to the way it had in June. But housing estates would remain the most in demand past the end of the year, and for a “while yet”.
Live City’s one-bedroom units are priced from $348,446-$448,732, two bedders from $439,200-$635,702, and three from $664,598-$768,283.
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The post Live City Melbourne: Up to $90K off apartments as land steals demand appeared first on realestate.com.au.