Two adjacent properties in Glen Iris have been sold to a prominent local developer after a competitive expression-of-interest campaign.
Continued strong demand for development sites is prompting homeowners to band together to achieve higher returns than could be achieved individually.
CBRE's Victorian Development Sites team negotiated the sale of two adjacent properties in Glen Iris for $6.6 million. The sites at 1455 High Street and 2a Scott Grove were zoned General Residential, triggering strong interest.
Julian White, a member of CBRE's Victorian Development Sites team, said, "Both of the properties in this instance were purchased less than 18 months ago, with the vendors making big margins of around 100% from what they paid."
The Glen Iris sale follows recent group sales by the CBRE Victorian Development Site team in South Yarra, Cheltenham and Camberwell, suggesting that group selling is a viable strategy for homeowners to increase their financial returns.
Apartment living in desirable suburban areas is becoming increasingly popular, as the high price of freestanding homes is prohibitive for most people. Developers are confident of off-the-plan sales.
Mr White said there is strong demand for development sites locally and from overseas. "Developers are looking to take advantage of the imbalance of apartment demand versus supply in the eastern suburbs (of Melbourne)," he said.
"Many offshore developers are familiar with the eastern suburbs market through family living in Australia. Suburbs such as Glen Iris, Kew and Canterbury are highly regarded by many locally based Chinese families, therefore when an offshore Chinese buyer is looking to acquire a site, these areas are high on their preference list."
Mr White said that while the buyer of the Glen Iris site was local, most bids were from offshore parties.