Fifty years ago, according to Ray White Real Estate. you and your family might have been able to purchase vacant land right near Sydney’s centre and build your own property with no more than a couple hundred thousand in the bank.
Fast forward to now – there’s no vacant land left within several kilometres of the city and detached houses in the area will set you back well over $1M.
Now all that’s about to change as more families are switching to living life vertically in much larger apartments.
Imagine if you could take your new family home far out on the fringes of suburbia and place it in a high rise right in the heart of a CBD like Campbelltown, Liverpool, Blacktown, Parramatta or Gosford.
You could walk to work, shopping, dining out, the train, the footy, your local school and even the doctor. Your building might contain a mini mart, a coffee shop, a pool, a gym and all the other luxuries of a high-rise resort.
Well, developers are quick to notice a change in demand or a brand-new marketing opportunity when they see one- and that’s what is happening with the trend towards larger apartments.
The perfect example is a plan to swap out one and three-bedroom apartments for four-bedroom units in a dual-tower project in Sydney’s north-west at Castle Hill which has just been approved.
While building A in the project planned for Garthowen Crescent, Castle Hill was unchanged, the amendments for building B approved by The Hills Shire Council reduced the total number of apartments to 185 from 192.
The addition of four-bedroom apartments reflects a growing trend in apartments as families and downsizers look to vertical living.
The original plans for the $69M project were approved in 2021, with some criticism from sections of the community over height issues and traffic concerns.
The development is called ‘Grand Rève’ and is described as- “contemporary luxury apartments homogenised with a beautiful, landscaped podium, seating pods, lush intimate spaces and residential dining sprinkled throughout”.
And Its location in the Sydney Metro Northwest Urban Renewal Corridor means that no more than 25% of the homes should be one-bedroom units and that 20% should have three or more bedrooms.
The Garthowen Crescent precinct is currently characterised by low-density homes with some medium-density development.
There are also some new multi-level high-density residential buildings that have frontages to Garthowen Crescent and Old Northern Rd.
Four-bedroom units are more likely to go up in value because they are so attractive to buyers and are currently in scarce supply.
And the city’s amazing growth will ensure values skyrocket. Currently, there are 5.2 million people in Sydney and by mid-century Sydney will have eight million people, with 10 million inhabitants in NSW.
Apartments already make up close to 40% of the new homes market, doubling in just a decade. So, instead of building a new four bedroom home a long way from anywhere, families are increasingly likely to buy a four-bedroom unit across the street, around the block or even in the same building.
Sources – Ray White, Google, Urban Developer
