PHOTO: Developers keep signing new deals, even while Melbourne remains a coronavirus hotspot.(Supplied: Flickr/Charles Van Den Broek)
Melbourne might be one of the most tightly locked-down cities in the world right now, but a welter of recent property deals shows developers are betting on a rapid return to normality.
Key points:
- Even as Melbourne is in a second lockdown, developers are finalising new deals to build thousands of homes
- Real estate agents and property analysts say price falls so far have been modest, taking values back to last year’s levels
- Two of the three key drivers of property prices — jobs and migration — are set to remain weak for some time
“Definitely!” said Joe Gersh, executive chairman of specialist real estate investment bank Gersh Investment Partners, who just helmed a $53 million deal to develop 1,500 new homes at Donnybrook on Melbourne’s northern fringe.
The agreement between Thailand’s massive Supalai group and Australia’s largest residential developer Stockland was agreed in principle in November but inked just last month.
Even with coronavirus trimming forecasts for migration-driven population growth, the developer’s view did not change.
“The [investors] looked at this dispassionately,” Mr Gersh, who also sits on the ABC board, said.