Residential developers eye quick recovery in Sydney as development sites get snapped up
The COVID-enduced downturn in the Australian economy has given residential developers a chance to look to the future and secure residential sites across Sydney.
The NSW Residential Site Sales Division at Savills secured 12 sales over 2020, worth over $330 million, and have another four sites set to exchange early this year for another $190 million.
Apartment sites located near rail, retail amenity and educational facilities remain in high demand, with the lower and upper north shore, city fringe and inner west particularly popular.
Real estate forecasts are strong for 2021 and beyond, particularly in Sydney, where
Off the plan sales in premium residential blocks such as Crown Residences, Kurraba Residences and the Sirius Building were strong over 2020, particularly in the owner-occupier market.
Savills Australia's director of residential site sales Stuart Cox says he anticipates 2021 being their biggest year on record.
"The residential market is set to bounce in a very positive direction," Cox says.
Cox suggests 2021 has all the ingredients for a rapid recovery for the residential market, with record low interest rates, government grants and incentives and the winding back of restrictive lending obligations which will make it easier and quicker for owner occupiers and investors to get a loan, once it comes into effect in March 2021.
“House and land developments experienced a huge resurgence during 2020 as developers took advantage of the various Federal and State stimulus programs currently available which were introduced to keep the construction industry going through the pandemic, these measures are expected to continue to strengthen the demand for house and land developments well into 2021," Cox says.
Cox said his team is still experiencing significant interest from well-established local Asian developers with strong offshore backing for sites in excess of $50 million that can provide scale and access to rail networks.
“Looking ahead to 2021, there are a significant number of sites already signed up and set to hit the market towards the beginning of 2021, with site values ranging from $10m to over $100m, located across of Sydney.
"We anticipate 2021 being our biggest year on record as the residential market is set to bounce in a very positive direction."