No bubble with Melbourne house and land: Satterley

The Satterley Property Group has seen no indication of softening demand or an impending price correction in its Victorian operations.

Jack Hoffmann, general manager of Satterley Property Group Victoria, noted the land market and the established market "were two very different beasts.” 

“We’re hearing all this talk of ‘is there or isn’t there a bubble?’ and that the established housing market, particularly the inner city apartment market, is in serious trouble.

"But this simply isn’t the case for the land market.”

 Satterley lay claim to around eight per cent of the Victorian land market with its portfolio having included Coburg Hill, Plenty River, Riverstone and Tarneit.

“The median land price grew by four per cent last year, which hardly indicates that we have entered a bubble.”

“While any price correction would inevitably have an effect on the entire market we expect that the land market, barring any unforeseeable event, would be largely sheltered from any significant impact,” Jack Hoffmann said.

He identified a consistent level of supply as a key factor keeping the land market from approaching bubble-like conditions.

“The reason that the land market has grown at a more sustainable rate than the established market is supply.

"The state government has done a good job of approving enough land for development, which is now readily developable, to satisfy demand.

“As a result you currently have around 170 active land developments in Victoria, compared to around 90 in 2010,” Mr Hoffmann added.

In 2013 Satterley Property Group announced plans to secure 10 per cent of the Melbourne residential new house and land market, with its successful bid for Victorian Government-owned land at Point Cook.

The company said in 2013 it believed the house and land package market in Melbourne was then close to the bottom of the cycle.