Tuesday 5 April 2011
VOL 4. No 14
www.bellarinetimes.com.au
Bellarine Times
FREE WEEKLY
John Bowman, Shelley Keast and Jill Meehan are looking forward to the showcase of art and music at Saturday’s Ocean Grove Festival. Turn to page 5 for the full story.
VALUE PLUS Photo: ALISON MARTIN
BY ALISON MARTIN
WHILE prices continue to rise, Bellarine housing estates are offering affordable housing and opportunities for buyers who are being squeezed out of Melbourne’s real estate market. Housing studies claim new estates on Melbourne’s fringe, designed to meet the increasing demand from first home buyers, are no longer considered affordable – creating a growing market for home buyers on the Bellarine. Drysdale Stockdale and Leggo agent, Paul Raicevic, said one of the peninsula’s newest residential developments, Clifton Springs’ Bellaview Estate, was an example of developers working to make housing as affordable as possible for new home buyers.
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He said land prices ranged from $146,000 to $170,500, with 11 lots of the 39 released in stage one already sold and 13 under contract. The Bellaview entry price compares to about $219,000 for a similar sized block on the outskirts of Melbourne – which is the result of a 22 per cent increase in 12 months. “What is great about Bellaview Estate and Bisinella developments is that they try and make it as simple and affordable as possible for people to build their new home,” Raicevic said. “In the case of Bellaview this is evident with a majority of earthworks being provided to reduce the site costs for the purchaser along with including all boundary fencing for each block. “Paired with custom street lighting, signage and architecturally designed landscaping it makes for a
beautiful, affordable estate.” Raicevic said Clifton Springs and Drysdale were some of the most affordable pockets on the Bellarine, which had a great deal to offer and, in his opinion, had always been undervalued. Neville Richards Real Estate’s Luke Campbell said St Leonards and Indented Head were also still affordable with entry price for a house and land package at St Leonards around $300,000. He said there were also existing homes available that offered great, affordable value to buyers across the Bellarine. “We have a three bedroom house in Drysdale at the moment for $259,000 on a 600-square metre block and a three bedroom home in Portarlington for sale at $315,000,” Campbell said. Both agents agreed prices were attractive to
Melbourne buyers, with some new Bellarine residents buying on the peninsula and commuting to Melbourne for work. “We’ve found there are more people living down here and working in Melbourne,” Campbell said. “I think we are seeing more people moving down here to reside. But I think they plan to commute and then after a period of time they look for work in Geelong or closer to home. Or they will commute to Geelong and then use the train service,” he said. Raicevic said it was up to the individual home buyer to decide if the affordability of housing provided enough benefit to commute to and from Melbourne. However, he has seen a large influx in both investors and retirees from Melbourne over the last 18 months, along with people looking to escape the city for a lifestyle change.
WED 2-3ft+ average E 21° THU 1-2ft+ peaky NE 22° FRI 1-2ft small N/NE 22° SAT 1-2ft small N 23°
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