Buying New in Melbourne's Growth Corridors
Most new housing in Melbourne is being built in a ring through the west, the north and the south east. Tarneit, Truganina, Point Cook, Wyndham Vale, Rockbank, Craigieburn, Epping, Sunbury, Mickleham, Clyde, Berwick, Officer, Hampton Park, Mambourin, and further west through to Geelong, which is its own city rather than a Melbourne suburb. If you are buying your first home in Melbourne, there is a good chance it is out here, and the process is different from buying an established house.
It is different in ways that are not obvious until they cost you money. So here is what actually decides whether a corridor purchase goes well.
The one that catches most first home buyers
Untitled land cannot settle. If the estate is not yet registered with Land Use Victoria, you sign, you pay a deposit, and you wait. Registration estimates in the corridors slip regularly, sometimes by many months.
If your finance approval expires, or your lease ends, or your family is arriving on a fixed date, a slip in titling becomes your problem and not the developer's. Ask for the estimated registration date in writing. Ask what happens if it moves. Titled land costs more and removes the risk, and for a lot of buyers that is money well spent.
One contract or two, and why it changes your budget
A house and land package is usually two contracts. One for the land, one with the builder. A completed townhouse or apartment is usually one. That distinction changes three things at once.
| Two contracts (house and land) | One contract (townhouse, apartment) | |
|---|---|---|
| Stamp duty | Generally assessed on the land value at the time of the land contract | Assessed on the property, with the off-the-plan concession possibly applying |
| Finance | Settle the land, then progress payments through the build | Deposit, then one settlement on completion |
| While you wait | You may be paying a loan and rent at the same time | Usually rent only until settlement |
| Risk | Two counterparties, two timelines | One party responsible for the whole thing |
Neither is better in the abstract. But a buyer who budgeted for one and signed the other is in trouble, and that happens more than it should. We tell you which structure a project uses before you get attached to it.
Comparing builders when every display home looks the same
Display homes are built to sell. They are usually full of upgrades that are not in the contract price. Four questions cut through it.
- What is genuinely included at this price? Get the inclusions list, not the brochure.
- What is the site costs assumption, and what if the real cost is higher? This is where corridor budgets blow out.
- What does the fixed-price guarantee actually cover, and what is excluded?
- How long has this builder been delivering in this estate? Then speak to someone who settled with them a year ago.
Delivery record beats kitchen finishes every time. Our job is knowing which developers and builders have actually delivered in these corridors, because we have watched them do it.
Schemes worth asking about
First home buyers in Victoria may access stamp duty exemptions or concessions on new dwellings, and the First Home Owner Grant may apply to new homes including house and land and off-the-plan, subject to a contract price threshold. Victoria also offers an off-the-plan duty concession calculated on the land value component, which is often significant on townhouses and apartments.
Every one of these has eligibility conditions and every one of them changes. We are not licensed to give you tax advice and we will not pretend to calculate your position. What we will do is make sure the question reaches your conveyancer and the State Revenue Office before you sign, not after.
If you are not yet a citizen or permanent resident
If you are on a student, skilled or partner visa and permanent residency has not come through, you are a foreign person for foreign investment purposes. You will generally need FIRB approval, you are limited to new dwellings, and Victoria applies an additional 8 per cent duty. New build is most of what the corridors are, so the stock is there. The cost and the approval sequence are what change. The detail is here.
Where we work
Our current corridor stock includes Point Cook, Epping, Hampton Park, Mambourin, Sunshine and Wheelers Hill, with further stock in Rockbank, Sunbury, Berwick, Officer and Geelong, established eastern and inner northern suburbs including Blackburn, Box Hill and Alphington, premium apartments in the Melbourne CBD, and inner projects in Southbank and Yarraville. The suburb guides are here, and availability changes constantly, so treat published prices as indicative and ask us for the current position.
Questions we are asked most
What does titled and untitled land mean, and why does it matter?
Untitled land has not yet been formally registered with Land Use Victoria, so it cannot settle. You sign, you pay a deposit, and you wait for titles to issue before the land settles and the build can start. Registration dates in the growth corridors slip regularly, sometimes by many months. If your finance approval, your rent, or a lease expiry is timed against an estimated titling date, a slip is your problem rather than the developer's. Ask for the estimated registration date in writing and ask what happens if it moves. Titled land costs more and removes that risk entirely, which for many buyers is worth paying for.
Is a house and land package one contract or two?
Usually two. A land contract and a separate building contract with the builder. That changes your stamp duty position, because duty is generally assessed on the land value at the time of the land contract rather than on the finished house and land together. It also changes your finance, because you settle the land first and then draw progress payments during construction, which often means paying a loan and rent at the same time. A completed townhouse or apartment is normally a single contract. We tell you which structure a project uses before you get attached to it.
Can I use the First Home Owner Grant on a house and land package?
It may apply to new homes including house and land and off-the-plan, subject to a contract price threshold and other eligibility conditions that change. First home buyers may also access stamp duty exemptions or concessions on new dwellings. Eligibility depends on your circumstances, and it is the State Revenue Office and your conveyancer who confirm it, not us. What we do is make sure the question gets asked before you sign rather than after.
I am on a temporary visa. Can I buy in the growth corridors?
You are treated as a foreign person for foreign investment purposes if you are not an Australian citizen or permanent resident, which includes most student, skilled and partner visa holders whose permanent residency has not come through. That means you generally need FIRB approval and you are limited to new dwellings, and in Victoria an additional 8 per cent duty applies. New build is most of what the corridors are, so the stock is available, but the cost and the approval sequence are different. Our international buyers page sets out the detail.
How do I compare builders when every display home looks the same?
Look past the display home, because it is built to sell and usually includes upgrades that are not in your contract. Ask what is actually included at the contract price, what the site costs assumption is and what happens if the real site costs come in higher, what the fixed-price guarantee covers, and how long the builder has been delivering in that estate specifically. Then ask to speak to someone who settled with them twelve months ago. Delivery record matters more than the kitchen.