Buyers snapping up vacant land in Peet's Aston development, despite lacklustre sector
Amid a somewhat lacklustre environment for the new housing sector, home builder Peet Limited has secured its 100th sale in its Aston development, in the outer-Melbourne suburb of Craigieburn.
Aston launched in June 2011, and the 100th buyer, the Singh family, purchased a block of land in late January. The Singhs plan to begin construction next winter.
The family have lived in Craigieburn, about 30 kilometres north of Melbourne, for most of 2011 and they are glad to have secured a home in the area.
“It’s a nice, quiet area close to everything we want and it’s an easy 20-minute trip in to work for me,” Rupinder Singh says.
But not many Australian families are following the Singhs’ example, with detached new home sales falling 7.7% in the December quarter, according to the Housing Industry Association.
“Weakness in the new home building sector reflects a combination of subdued demand and an excessive cost base driven by high and inefficient taxation, the latter of which was further highlighted in 2011 by the modest decline in existing property values,” HIA chief economist Harley Dale says.
Victoria was hit particularly hard in the December 2011 quarter, with a 10.5% decline in new detached home sales.
Land sales are not doing much better, according to HIA-RP Data. Although land sales increased by 1.3% in the September 2011 quarter, they were 16.8% lower than in the September 2010 quarter and substantially lower than their September 2009 peak.
But despite hard times for the sector as a whole, Aston has proven popular with buyers. It will offer residents a total of 20 hectares of parkland and open space, including three sports fields.
December was the best month for sales in the development since its launch.
Land it set aside for an onsite retail sector and a school, and the development is close to several primary and secondary schools and is within a short drive of Greenvale, Craigieburn and Roxburgh Park Shopping Centres.
Blocks in the development range from 315 square metres through to 494 square metres, with frontages varying from 14 metres to 17.6 metres. Prices range from $180,000 through to $220,000.
The median house price in Craigieburn increased 3.2% last year, according to RP Data.
The median value for capital cities land rose by 1% in the September 2011 quarter to $213,718, or 2.5% higher than one year earlier.