What is a Baychanger? Boutique Elwood development Foam Street see 'Baychanger' demand
The boutique development Foam Street in the Bayside Melbourne suburb of Elwood has secured sales of nearly half of its apartments at its recent launch.
Developer Goldfields has seen demand coming from an emerging market which have been dubbed "Baychangers."
Goldfields chief operating officer Lachlan Thompson said five of the project’s twelve boutique apartments had already been snapped by buyers up on the first few days of the sales campaign.
“The Elwood brand is one of the strongest in Melbourne, especially for buyers looking to downsize to a smaller and more convenient home in a vibrant community that offers exciting lifestyle and entertainment options,” Thompson said.
“As a result, the supply of low-maintenance luxury apartments in Elwood’s established property market is far outweighed by demand, with many looking to alternatives, such as boutique new developments, like Foam Street, Elwood.
“These buyers are looking shorten and simplify the homebuying process and avoid the frustration associated with the existing property market.
“They want to live ‘life after the family home’ somewhere with a little more ‘soul,’ somewhere more intimate and personal; the type of place where you know your neighbours by their first name.”
Jackson Clements Burrows designed the development of two and three bedroom apartments in conjunction with Studio Tate.
“FOAM STREET apartments are designed to be entirely of their place – reflecting and complementing the street’s vernacular – thus creating a discerning identity within their environment. Each dwelling offers expansive living areas, private outdoor spaces and enduring finishes," Tim Jackson, director at Jackson Clements Burrows said.
The project sits in landscaped surrounds designed by Eckersley Garden Architecture.
The Agency's Michael Paproth said, as well as demand from locals who want to remain in the area, there is a rapidly emerging market of buyers from outside the broader Bayside area.
“Baychangers tend to be semi-retired or retired professionals, typically from the inner-eastern suburbs, whose children have started their own families, and who are looking for a lifestyle change, but without the distance associated with a treechange or seachange," Paproth said.
“Despite being right next door to each other, the Bayside and inner east can be quite different in terms of community, culture and lifestyle."