75% foreign buyers in UEM's 92 storey Aurora Melbourne Central near sell-out
The Malaysian developer UEM Sunrise has secured a virtual off the plan sellout of its a highrise residential tower, the 92-storey Aurora Melbourne Central.
It is the developer’s first Australian project, being managed by PDS Group.
The developer has sold 895 apartments of the 941 apartments - mostly through its sale networks in south-east Asia and China over the past fortnight.
Local buyers account for 25% of the apartments sold through Colliers.
Around 60% of buyers are investors attracted both by Melbourne’s reputation as the world’s most liveable city and its relatively low prices by international standards.
Some 22% of the Aurora Melbourne Central apartments, priced between $395,000 and $1.1 million, were bought by Malaysians, 25% were purchased by Australians, 15% by Singaporeans and the remaining 38% by Hong Kong and Chinese investors.
The project is slated to be completed by 2019, once works start in March or April next year.
“As a benchmark in Australasia, Melbourne core CBD prices are on par with KL, 50% cheaper than Sydney, 200% cheaper than Singapore, 350% cheaper than Hong Kong, and a staggering 550% cheaper than London,” Raymond Cheah, director of UEM Sunrise’s Australian subsidiary, said.
He described the sellout as “breathtaking”.
The $730 million project will rise in the heart of the Melbourne CBD, on La Trobe Street near the State Library and RMIT University.
Listed on the Malaysian stock exchange, UEM Sunrise is a subsidiary of the UEM conglomerate, which is owned by Malaysian sovereign fund Khazanah Nasional.
The developer has another property project in Melbourne, a 0.4 hectare site on Mackenzie Street which was bought for $65 million.
The project on Mackenzie Street known as The Conservatory will be unveiled by June next year.
The company wants to build more properties in Australia to ride on the expanding economy and population growth in Melbourne and Sydney.
"We are zooming in on a few sites," Cheah said.