Most Central Coast suburbs are well-established so it’s infrequent that vacant land is for sale, however, when land does hit the market it is snapped up quickly.
The latest information in the Herron Todd White Residential September Report reveals that the northern end of the Coast typically provides more options for those looking to purchase vacant land.
The region continues to be the development corridor, appealing to many buyers as being a more affordable alternative to other Central Coast areas.
Woongarrah, Warnervale and Hamlyn Terrace have various existing and upcoming estates where vacant parcels of land range from 450sqm to 700sqm.
These estates offer a good location close to the M1, schools and shopping.
Evidence of the recent growth in the market is shown through a recent sale of a vacant land block at 13 Honey Myrtle Rd, Warnervale (672sqm), selling for $399,000 in May 2021.
By comparison, 7 Honey Myrtle Rd (671sqm) sold for $350,000 in November 2020.
A new subdivision is under construction at 37-53 Albert Warner Dr, Warnervale, which indicates there is no shortage of demand for vacant lots.
Looking further north to Wyee, Radcliffe Estate offers vacant lots ranging between 400sqm and 800sqm.
According to realestate.com.au, a 550sqm parcel of land sold in this subdivision in July 2021 for $480,000.
Pre-COVID and during the early months of 2020, prices were ranging from the low to mid $300,000s for vacant lots in this estate.
Demand for all these suburbs is being driven by both Sydney and local buyers looking for affordable land close to the M1, railway corridor and local infrastructure.
These areas have seen demand levels increase as people more so now than ever have the flexibility to work from home and are less inclined to work from Sydney CBD based office environments.
If working arrangements revert back to how we knew life before COVID-19, then buyers need to be mindful of the commuting time and distances to Sydney-based workplaces.
Further north again, Gwandalan is continuing to expand and while land is hard to come by in the existing estates, the upcoming Crangan Bay subdivision is under construction.
The estate advises that 95 per cent of stage one is sold, however, this has not been confirmed and price guides are not readily available for this development.
Comparatively, a 700sqm vacant lot in the existing Gwandalan estate at 66 Fairwater Dr sold for $329,000 in February 2021.
Prior to that, it sold for $230,000 off the plan through the developer in 2016.
Opportunities to secure vacant residential land at the southern end of the Coast remain a challenge with very limited supply levels.
The report says that there have been examples in Umina Beach, Woy Woy and Ettalong Beach of developers purchasing older-style dwellings on land that is large enough and zoned for low-density unit-style living.
The construction of choice is generally a mixture of single level villas and two-storey townhouses, subdivided separately with strata title ownership.
Over the past five years, the Kings Estate in Terrigal has emerged from a natural bushland site that remained dormant whilst surrounding residential subdivisions progressed.
This estate has provided a much-needed boost in vacant land supply levels in the local area, however, the final stage four land release appears now to be fully sold by the developer.
Some landowners who originally purchased lots off the plan have decided to sell and not develop.
A recent example is the land at 76 Reginald Dr, Terrigal, which is in the stage four land release.
The 876sqm block settled in January 2021 after an off-the-plan purchase for $630,000 and resold in May 2021 for $800,000.
It is no secret that supply of vacant land in the central areas of the Central Coast is limited, just like in the south.
The most recent and only large-scale land subdivision in the central area of the Coast is the Glades Estate, on the suburb border of Berkeley Vale and Glenning Valley.
All the land in the primary stages was sold off the plan and completely sold out with future stages yet to be released.
In the past six months, some of these off-the-plan lots resell and achieve strong prices.
Examples of resales of lots in the subdivision include: 26 Bottlebursh Dr, Berkeley Vale – 570sqm of land which sold off the plan in March 2018 for $360,000 and resold in May 2021 for $578,000;
28 Bottlebrush Dr, Berkeley Vale – 570sqm of land which sold in February 2020 for $360,000 and resold in May 2021 for $591,000; 11 Sandalwood Cl, Berkeley Vale – 463sqm of land which sold off the plan in February 2019 for $362,000 and resold in February 2021 for $490,000.
Historically, beachside suburbs on the Central Coast have been improved over the years by buyers seeking opportunities in the knockdown and rebuild market.
Partially executed, 35 McGee Ave, Wamberal, was purchased in May 2019 with an older style dwelling in place for $1.62M.
A change of heart by the current property owners after demolishing the dwelling, the vacant land parcel with an approval granted for a new dwelling was under contract for $2.4M as at July 2021, according to CoreLogic RPData records.
Even without the added value of the pre-existing dwelling, it equates to a 48 per cent increase in value in just over two years.
Source:
Herron Todd White Residential September Report