PHOTO: Peter O’Dwyer and his children Charlotte, Savannah and Arianna were excited to move into their new home. (ABC News: Simon Beardsell)
Peter O’Dwyer, a single dad with three daughters, bought an off-the-plan townhouse in Canberra’s north in 2018.
The place was perfect — room for him and his daughters — and it was also about 500 metres from their mother.
But in May the developer, 3 Property Group, rescinded its contract for the Throsby property — despite having been paid a deposit.
“My heart sunk, it was just devastating,” Mr O’Dwyer said.
3 Property Group said the company had been “blasted by unfortunate events” – including a “significant dispute with the original builder” – since the contracts were signed.
It said it had re-designed the homes and was still planning to complete the Vivace development project.
Canberra is currently in a historic property boom, with values consistently rising every month since April 2019.
Mr O’Dwyer said that left him and his children with hardly any options — he was forced out of work for six months due to injuries sustained from a motorcycle crash.
“Now we have to try and buy something in this ridiculous market where everything is overpriced it just does not give us a chance,” he said.
Mr O’Dwyer said he offered the developers an extra $50,000 for the property that was initially his but they refused his deal.
The townhouse has now been resold for about $140,000 above what he was originally going to pay.
“That is probably what hurts the most … and then there is also the three years’ worth of rent I have had to pay,” he said.
Mr O’Dwyer is just one of several people the ABC has spoken to, who have been impacted by 3 Property Group pulling out of the deal.
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