ACT government sells more than $17 million worth of land at multi-unit auction

The ACT government exchanged $17.6 million worth of contracts at an auction event on Wednesday morning.

Suburban Land ACT auctioned eight multi-dwelling blocks at the Ainslie Football Club, with five selling under the hammer.

And, ranging from 2032 square metres to 9831 square metres, there were three blocks on offer in Coombs and five in Wright.

The largest sale was a 9831-square-metre Coombs block which sold for $7.06 million to Pelle Homes. It was a highly competitive auction with three bidders vying for the home.

The CZ5-zoned site has a maximum of 98 permitted dwellings. Of these, 20 must fall under the ACT government’s affordable-housing threshold.

“The spirited bidding and the high number of bidders looking to purchase the largest block was the standout result of the day,” Civium Property Group director and listing agent Andrew Smith said.

“Developers were attracted to this site’s location within the established part of Coombs and also the potential for commercial uses on the site.”

Three adjacent multi-unit blocks in Wright sold to three separate developers. The largest of the three – a 4498-square-metre block – sold for $3.5 million. It has a maximum of 44 permitted dwellings, with 13 affordable dwellings.

The other multi-unit Wright blocks had a maximum 31 permitted dwellings each and sold for $2.45 million and $2.49 million.

“All the developers are in the really early stages of the plans, but a lot of the buyers already have product in Coombs and Wright so they are familiar with the area,” said ACT Suburban Land Agency assistant director Julia Forner.

• Related: Multi-unit blocks go under the hammer at ACT government auction
• Related: Wright mixed-use site sells for $10.25 million
• Related: Blocks of land for sale under $500k in Canberra 

Two packages of detached blocks in Wright were also on offer on the day, but neither sold under the hammer. A medium density 2032-square-metre block in Wright was also passed in. Negotiations are under way on these blocks.

“We expect to agree to terms on two of the remaining sites over the next 24 hours. Assuming these last blocks sell, it would bring the total volume of sales to around $20 million,” Mr Smith said.

These are the last multi-unit blocks to be offered in North Coombs and North Wright, however, more blocks are set to come to market over the next four years across the two Molonglo Valley suburbs.

“There’s still stock yet to be offered in both south Coombs and Wright on John Gorton Drive. When you have a transit corridor like that, you can’t flood the market with everything at once,” Ms Forner said.

The 2018/19 Indicative Land Release Program shows two multi-unit blocks of 100 and 123 dwellings will be offered before the end of the financial year, but, there are several single-residential blocks currently available over the counter.