Rare Sunbury Site to Ride Land Market Boom in City North-West

A rare 19 hectare landholding has been listed for sale in Sunbury, in Melbourne’s north-western growth corridor with price expectations of over $20 million. Located at 50 Buckland Way, the land parcel is being sold by Savills on behalf of a local private family and sits within the Sunbury South Precinct Structure Plan (PSP) formulated by the Victorian Planning Authority (VPA) and Hume City Council.

Adjoining Development Victoria’s now complete Jacksons Hill Estate, the site is expected to be hotly contested with few opportunities in Melbourne’s growth corridors on the back of a quick absorption of retail land lots partnered with strong price growth.

The property is being marketed by Savills’ Julian Heatherich, Benson Zhou and Nick Garoni.

Mr Heatherich said that it was becoming increasingly difficult to secure large parcels of land in proximity to existing residential communities, with land sales in 2021 at record levels . The demand for land in 2022 is expected to further increase as business activity stabilises and borders remain open for travel and immigration.

“This site could potentially yield 225 residential lots and the scale will appeal to wide range of developers seeking to bolster their development pipelines,” he said.

The Sunbury South PSP, along with the adjoining Lancefield Road PSP is set to contain over 19,000 new dwellings to be delivered over the next 20 years and generate 6,000 jobs. Plans are in place for 50 Buckland Way to adjoin a new local retail town centre and primary school. A new train station is also set to be delivered approximately 600 metres from the site.

Villawood’s Redstone Estate, Everley Sunbury and the recently launched Harpers Rise (partly located on the adjoining site at 60 Buckland Way) are among major estates within the PSP.

“The Sunbury South PSP is starting to gain real traction among homeowners with the impending delivery of new amenity and the launch of numerous major projects to strengthen this demand,” Mr Heatherich said

First home buyers and young families are continuing to account for a large portion of demand for land lots in Sunbury South with continued government incentives on offer.

“With a slowdown of spending and socialising during the pandemic, young families and professionals who worked consistently over the past two years have saved a larger portion of their salary and accelerated the timeline of buying their first home,” said Nick Garoni.

The englobo land market was the real star performer throughout the development site sector in 2021 according to Savills analysis, with on market properties receiving record levels of enquiry. Throughout the 2021, enquiry levels for development sites in growth area averaged 164 per property, a significant rise from previous years, outperforming other sectors of the market.

“With the opening of international borders in 2022, we anticipate competition for major development sites to continue to increase, with international buyers expected to re-establish their interest in the Melbourne commercial property market,” said Benson Zhou, Director of Savills Asia Markets.

The property will be sold via an Expression of Interest process and closes Wednesday 2 March.