Domacom landbanking opportunity trumping residential decline in Sydney

Landbanking firm KSI investments has advised the DomaCom Fund to close the fundraising for the purchase of a second parcel of land at Badgerys Creek early given strong investor interest.

It came after an influx of investment from local and overseas property investors following the announcement of a $100 million university and research precinct within 3.8kms of the land located at 60 Devonshire Road, Rossmore (pictured above).

The campaign for the land in Rossmore near Badgerys Creek was oversubscribed by 20 per cent.

Investors who missed out will be able to invest in other upcoming crowdfunded land investment which will be available over the next few months.

DomaCom is Australia's leading property crowdfunder. It allows anyone to invest a little or a lot into property investment. 

Arthur Naoumidis CEO of DomaCom Ltd, said it was very exciting to have completed the second parcel of land so quickly after the first transaction.

"It sees the realisation of what the DomaCom Fund was established for, allowing retail investors access to an asset which would not normally be accessible to this market," he said.

"We now have close to 100 investors owning a fractional interest in this asset.”

KSI investments CEO Robin Luo says there are some factors at play in the Sydney property market pushing land prices higher leading to heightened interest in crowdfunding of land near Badgerys Creek.

“As the Sydney residential property market cools, investors have been looking for alternative ways to make money in property he said.

"Appreciating the topography of Sydney is key to understanding why land prices are surging, Sydney is landlocked by mountain ranges to the west and ocean to the east, meaning flat land is limited to a 80 km radius of the CBD."

"In contrast, Melbourne has flat land for over 200kms from the CBD. The south-west Sydney region is the last frontier for land in Sydney. It’s the last opportunity for investors to buy unimproved farm land to convert into residential. Basically, everywhere else in Sydney has already been through this transformation process over the past 30 years,” Mr Luo concluded.

Endre Kollo, KSI Executive Director said the Government will break ground on the construction of Badgerys Creek airport later this year

In preparation, the State Government has already committed hundreds of millions of dollars to building new train stations and putting in new roads.

"The infrastructure support from the State Government has been wonderful for land prices in the region," Mr Kollo said.

Mr Luo said that many people want to buy in the Badgerys Creek region but few have the funds and resources to acquire the properties.

In the past, landbanking was only available to big developers however the DomaCom fund has opened this up to mum and dad investors via a crowdfunding structure.

He suggests that residential housing values will continue to fall while rural land prices will continue to rise for the next few years.  

“Given the 70 per cent price increases we’ve seen in Sydney over the past 5 years, even after a correction, prices are still higher than the long-term trend growth of 7.25 per cent and remain unattractive to most, particularly noting the still unattractive rental yields on residential property. 

"The land market in the south-west region on the other hand, is a buoyant market and we need to act quick to snap up good land otherwise it gets taken up by another developer within days”.

AFL legend Kevin Sheedy is an ambassador for Domacom.