First-home buyers buying sub-$600,000 townhouses in Cheltenham’s Central Park project

The R. Corporation’s Cheltenham development Central Park is selling briskly as first-home buyers seek to purchase a property under $600,000 before the Victorian government’s $13,000 first-home bonus expires on June 30.

The 208-townhouse development launched in late March, and 40 of the 52 in the first stage have sold. Just over half of the townhouses sold in the first three days.

The majority of the offerings in Central Park are priced under the all-important $600,000 threshold. There are five styles of townhouse offered in this release, all named after flowers. Buyers of the three-bedroom offerings Gardenia (135 square metres, from $630,000) and Orchid (170 square metres, from $825,000) will not be eligible for the government’s first-home bonus, but the other styles are under the threshold. These include the three-bedroom Camellia (117 square metres, from $595,000), three-bedroom magnolia (138 square metres, from $592,000) and two-bedroom Jasmine (121 square metres, from $530).

“For first-home buyers now is the perfect time to buy,” says R. Corporation marketing manager Rohan Ames.

“With as little as $45,000 [deposit], access to the first-home buyers’ extra $13,000 for new homes and their first-home buyers’ grant … Central Park townhouses offer a modern and affordable way into home ownership in the bayside area.”

The median sale price for houses in Cheltenham, which is about 20 kilometres south-east of Melbourne CBD, is $605,000, according to RP Data.

The development was initially marketed at the second-home buyer market, but Ames says first-home buyers are finding they can afford several of the offerings.

“Our sophisticated product and considered design aesthetic is, most importantly, attainable.  First-home buyers will be genuinely surprised that they can afford to live in an R. Corporation townhouse,” says Ames.

All of the townhouses have two bathrooms, and they all include landscaped courtyards, balconies or gardens. Every property also comes with a carport or garage.