By Xavier Smerdon
THE amazing story of Wyndham’s record population growth continues to astound as the cost of land looks set to overtake the cost of building a new house.
The median land price in Wyndham and other growth suburbs including Melton and Whittlesea soared 24 per cent in the past 12 months to $212,750 last quarter.
According to research by the property group Oliver Hume, the median cost of building your own house has risen to $216,097, which leaves a difference of just over $3000 between the price of land and building a new house.
Principle of Triwest Real Estate Professional, Paul Nuske, said the increase in costs could be put down to population growth.
“It’s basically just supply and demand,” Mr Nuske said.
“We’ve had a record number of people move to the area, and that drives prices up.”
Mr Nuske, who lives in Hoppers Crossing, said he had never seen growth as fast as today’s level.
“I’ve worked in real estate in the area for 18 years now, and I’ve never seen growth like this,” he said.
“We’ve also got a lot of immigrants moving to the area, because the cost of living in the inner suburbs is just too great.”
The Brumby Government is extending the Urban Growth Boundary to allow for an extra 284,000 new homes to be built around Wyndham.
Mr Nuske said he would not be surprised if the cost of land overtook the cost of a new house by the end of this year.
“If people continue to move here at the rate they are now, then definitely that looks like it will happen,” he said.
