The secret is apparently out across Melbourne’s western suburbs as developers continue to snap up large tracks of rezoned industrial land to build new medium density housing communities to cater for the ever-expanding middle class to help ease Melbourne’s current housing affordability crisis.
Anything within 15 kilometres of the CBD is proving very desirable with developers with multiple bids for newly rezoned large former industrial land tracks coming in once they have been rezoned for residential development. The new west of Melbourne is proving a popular place for developers due to cheaper land prices and willing councils like Brimbank, Maribyrnong and Wyndham with less heritage listed areas making for an easier planning process and with less community opposition to low-rise and medium density housing developments.
The goal for developers is to get the mix right for these new styles of communities and to deliver houses, townhouses and apartments well below the city’s median price of $914,000 with the right mix of open spaces, shared facilities, proximity to schools, shops and transport hubs along with reasonable travel times to and from the Melbourne CBD.
An area like Sunshine, which is a close to the Melbourne CBD as the multimillion dollar eastern suburbs as Malvern and Camberwell, has been identified by the federal government as one of seven employment and innovation clusters in Melbourne, and is being targeted for strategic infrastructure and jobs growth.
Developers have recently paid $34 million for a 20-hectare former quarry site in Sunshine North and have also secured a permit to build 250 townhomes and apartments along the Maribyrnong River. 420 townhomes are planned for an 11-hectare Braybrook site purchased for $80 million. St Albans has 250 townhomes and dwellings under first stage construction on a 6.8-hectare site. Albanvale, is also set for a new community after an offshore developer paid $11.67 million for an 8.8-hectare site that was sold by VicRoads and zoned residential last year.
So How Can You Cash In On These Opportunities To Buy Wholesale?
The key to buying wholesale is staying alert to similar changes and upgrades in your local area, looking for smaller opportunities for redevelopment. If the size and scale of these large projects is out of your reach, seek help from professionals like the Plan Assist Property Team who constantly find they types of opportunities to invest in, and with a little bit of planning and patience, you can be ready to capitalise on the next sweeping zoning change in your area too.
