Nice Capital Gain for Sunbury Farm Owners

Family and friends who 30 years ago paid $300,000 for adjoining Sunbury farms “in the middle of nowhere” are cashing in on an extraordinary capital gain.

In the latest example of rural landowners profiting from Melbourne’s urban sprawl, the 10 vendors – who united earlier this month to offer the 119-hectare supersite – have found a buyer to enter exclusive negotiations with. The property hit the market with price expectations of up to $70 million.

The land is on the train line between Sunbury and Diggers Rest and is expected to make way for a new, $500 million-plus suburb.

Marketed as 45 Buckland Way, but also with access to Watsons Road and near the Calder Freeway, the farm is about 40 kilometres north-west of the CBD, beyond Melbourne Airport.

For decades the vendors resisted the urge to sell, despite local farms being redeveloped with housing estates.

The state government’s development arm Places Victoria is behind one of the biggest estates – Jackson Hill, immediately north of the Buckland Way properties. Developed from 1997 on the former Caloola Hospital, Jackson Hill covers 193 hectares. Many residents here enjoy postcard city views over the Sunbury farms about to be developed.

When the Buckland Way properties hit the market with much fanfare – it achieved television, radio and print coverage – LJ Hooker Glen Waverley’s Judy Thanh Truc and Joseph Ngo were quoting up to $70 million.

The farm is not yet permitted for a large-scale residential development.

A consortium of private developers is understood to be behind the purchase.

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