Developments like Pace of Sunshine North aimed at Melburnians rather than international buyers are tipped to be increasingly common due to COVID-19.
Melbourne homebuyers will be the winners as the city’s new-housing industry looks for ways to fill a gap left by international buyers.
Speaking at an Urban Development Institute of Australia Victorian chapter event last week, ANZ economist Daniel Gradwell said the bank believed Australia’s borders could remain shut for long enough to force developers to embrace local buyers like never before.
It exacerbates a trend of falling international sales in recent years.
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“(But) there is huge demand for inner-ring townhouses or low-density units,” Mr Gradwell said.
“(And it’s coming from) domestic buyers, not international buyers. That will be a growth area for the overall housing mix for a long time.”
He also noted without an extension to the federal government’s $25,000 HomeBuilder grants, surging land sales would be short lived and demand for inner city lifestyles would lead to more developers pursuing that space in the coming 18 months.
Rose & Bird in Maribyrnong has also been popular with local buyers.
Almost 2000 blocks of land sold in Victoria in June, with a similar number forecast for July, according to RPM Real Estate. Director Luke Kelly backed Mr Gradwell’s forecast and said RPM was seeing estate developers considering urban infill sites for townhouses.
Marshall White Projects director Leonard Teplin said strong sales to locals in June helped show developers international sales were “artificial”.
“Consumers will win out here,” Mr Teplin said. “There will be a fight to capture their imagination and attention.”
He said developments like Central Park in Malvern East, 835 High Street, Armadale, and Rose and Bird in Maribyrnong had largely sold out during COVID-19, with the developers providing exhaustive detail to buyers. And more would follow suit.
Multimillion-dollar apartments at 835 High at 835 High St, Armadale, attracted high-end buyers with exhaustive detail on every aspect shared by the developer.
Pace Development Group sales and marketing director Ashley Bramich said demand was driven by first-home buyers seeking affordability at the bottom of the market, and downsizers embracing apartment living at the top.
Mr Bramich said there were also signs demand, for townhouses at least, was spreading into the city’s middle ring. His firm’s Pace of Sunshine North project has attracted inquiry from dozens of buyers every week, despite the pandemic.
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