Land demand hits new high

Buyers camp out for house blocks

BUYERS are going to the extreme length of camping out overnight to secure a block of land as demand continues to rise.

Demand is so strong in some estates that $11 million worth of land recently sold in 24 hours on the Bellarine Peninsula.

Neville Richards, St Leonards agent Luke Campbell said the agency sold 50 blocks of land in the Seachange estate on the day it was released.

“We had 1700 people registered and the phone was ringing off the hook from 9am,” Mr Campbell said.

“We had all our staff in the one office, it was like a call centre.”

He said the average price for a block of land in the release was $210,000 to $220,000.

In previous land releases, Mr Campbell said people would camp out for a couple of days before the land was available, but now a new system required buyers to phone the office.

But in other estates some people are still camping out, like the eight parties at Villawood Properties Armstrong estate who were desperate to secure a block of land.

One of the local Metricon building representatives even delivered pizza to those braving the cold.

Villawood executive director Rory Costelloe said the blocks in the Eco Stage 39 Release C were highly sought after because they would be near a future greenway on Airport Rd.

“Although people are just buying land irrespective of where it is at the moment, they are so desperate to buy a block of land,” Mr Costelloe said.

He said land was originally selling with a six to ninemonth wait but that had been pushed out to 12 months.

He said he didn’t want to extend that waiting time fur- ther because he didn’t know what it would cost to deliver.

Mr Costelloe said an online deposit process was being trialled in Melbourne to make it easier to secure a block of land.

When blocks become available, a $5000 holding fee can be placed online and then the buyer has 72 hours to verify their identity and pay the balance at the sales office.

But camping out is becoming a business with queue lineup tasks posted on Airtasker, searching for people who will line up for land releases.

Not only is demand increasing, but so is the cost of getting into the property market.

Porter Davis will act as a ‘rich parent’ to one lucky Victorian first-home buyer with a competition to win a $170,000 deposit on their first home.

The ‘Rich Parents You Never Had’ competition closes on June 30, with the winner receiving $170,000 towards a Porter Davis house and land package.