Developer Villawood Properties has opened up its new housing project at Sunbury, keen to take advantage of a change in buyer interest.
Research by McCrindle is showing a shift in buyer interest from Melbourne’s south-east suburbs to its north-west, something Villawood is betting on as it opens up Kimberley.
Kimberley is a gas-free 2000-lot housing project just above the Emu Bottom escarpment at Sunbury.
Three private and public schools, a cliff-top residents club, water savings, microgrids, views of Sunbury and the Macedon Ranges, public art, paths and tracks and a nearby future train station are all key amenities of Kimberley, according to the developer.
The project will open up a 26km stretch of Jacksons Creek to the public for the first time in a century.
A new Salesian College 7-12 campus linked to the nearby Rupertswood campus will also be part of the project.
It will also focus on preparing students for career opportunities in the Sunbury-Macedon Ranges including urban and agricultural pathways such as vet science, horticulture, horse racing and produce along with a STEM centre to focus on electronics, IT and robotics.
The residents club will include a gym, cafe, pool, and a family and sports court facilities.
Villawood’s nearby Redstone and Sherwood Grange developments will be connected to Kimberley by the Jacksons Creek parkland.
The three projects have a total of 5000 lots, 30 per cent of Sunbury’s developable land.
McCrindle’s Australia Towards 2031 report found that 60 per cent of those not living in a regional area have considered moving to one with peace and quiet being the main driving factor for 69 per cent of them.
A simpler lifestyle was the second consideration with affordability only the third reason on the list at 64 per cent and 62 per cent respectively.
Melbourne University’s The Great Migration: Leaving our Cities for the Regions study had similar results with better lifestyle/amenity the main reason at 73 per cent, being closer to the natural environment at 63 per cent and housing affordability and raising a family further down the list of reasons to move at 52 per cent and 31 per cent respectively.
McCrindle’s research also found that it was Gen Z (59 per cent) and Gen Y or millennials (56 per cent) who were most likely to want to move and keep a city-based job while working from home.
This is partly due to Gen Y not being able to buy to suit their family’s needs within urban areas with 48 per cent saying the ability to own more land and 42 per cent saying the ability to buy a house rather than an apartment were key factors in moving to the regions.
Sunbury is behind Melbourne Airport with the Macedon Ranges next to it along with an existing town, schools, medical, retail and community facilities.
Several significant projects are under way or in planning, including a $2.1-billion Sunbury rail line upgrade, new railway stations, a new $1.9-billion airport runway, and an outer ring road, the Bulla bypass project and an unimpeded connection between Sunbury, and Pakenham and Cranbourne via the Metro Tunnel.
Oliver Hume national research head George Bougias said with a third of workers working from home two to three days a week, peri-urban areas will grow faster.
“There is a high level of activity within Sunbury highlighting the area’s continued popularity,” Bougias said.
“Sunbury is increasingly attracting more people from across Melbourne and surrounds.”
Sunbury’s population is tipped to grow from 41,000 to more than 106,000 in the next 20 years.
