28 February 2015. Victoria has had the most searches for off the plan apartments nationally over the past three months, according to realestate.com.au’s New Apartment Hotspots listⁱ.

The following ten Australian suburbs have had the most views for off-the-plan apartments in the past three months:

1. Collingwood (VIC)

2. Hampton (VIC)

3. Lane Cove (NSW)

4. Mosman (NSW)

5. Melbourne CBD (VIC)

6. Brisbane City (QLD)

7. Rhodes (NSW)

8. Wollongong (NSW)

9. Carlton (VIC)

10. Richmond (VIC)

Victoria has five suburbs included in realestate.com.au’s New Apartment Hotspots with Collingwood the most popular, attracting a high level of interest from across the country. Hampton, Melbourne CBD, Carlton and Richmond follow in second, fifth and ninth spots, showing interest in investment towards inner city locations.

Evan Cathcart from 360 Property Group said that stamp duty savings were a significant driver in people looking to Victoria for off-the-plan apartments.

“When you buy an off-the-plan apartment in Victoria, you get stamp duty savings that are more significant than other states. For example, purchasing an off-the-plan apartment for $500,000 can save you up to $25,000.

With inner city Melbourne suburb of Collingwood topping the list nationally, Mr Cathcart said that its proximity to the CBD and lifestyle are key drivers for buyers.

“There are parts of Collingwood that are only one km or a 10 minute walk from the CBD. From my experience, most people buying off-the-plan in Collingwood are predominantly young professionals. With Collingwood, they’re close to their white-collar jobs in the city and have bustling cafes, bars and restaurants at their doorstep.”

Mr Cathcart said that Collingwood is ‘hot’ with more sophisticated buyers coming into the market over the past couple of years.

“When we sold our first projects three to four years ago Collingwood was quite grungy and now it’s more gentrified.”

“With such a young, vibrant demographic infiltrating Collingwood, a lot of residents ride bikes and walk into the city, which takes pressure off local roads,” he said.

New South Wales is the second most popular state for buyers with four suburbs included in the list - Lane Cove, Mosman, Rhodes and Wollongong featuring in third, fourth, seventh and eight spots and highlighting interest in coastal and inner west areas.

Queensland completes the national list with Brisbane included in sixth spot, showing an overall demand for central areas.

Head of developer sales at REA Group, Toby Balazs, said that realestate.com.au’s New Apartment Hotspots paint a strong picture of consumer demand.

“Suburbs that feature in realestate.com.au’s New Apartment Hotspots are areas receiving the most views per development, showing huge demand for that area. If you’re a first home buyer or an investor looking for the right apartment development, our new apartments dedicated map-based search functionality makes it really easy to see where developments are happening across Australia on a national, regional and local level.”

“A handy tool for those looking for new apartments is our dedicated ‘New homes’ section on realestate.com.au. Buyers looking for off-the-plan apartments can scan all the projects available in one place. It offers information and images for each development and a detailed summary to ensure their search is simple, efficient and stress free.”

 

Methodology: realestate.com.au reaches its findings by taking the most viewed apartment developments in the Buy and New Homes sections for each suburb over the course of three months. It compares the number of views on developer listings against the number of available developments in that suburb.

 

About realestate.com.au: realestate.com.au is the leading website in Australia for residential property, attracting more than 3 million visitors every month. realestate.com.au is owned and operated by ASX listed REA Group Ltd ABN 54 068 349 066. Source: Nielsen Online Ratings, Domestic Audience, November 2014 – January 2015.