Community News

Want to see which way the property market’s likely to go? Look to the US, say some experts. Australia has a tendency to follow a similar path to what happens State-side and, right now, what’s going on there suggests interesting times ahead for Adelaide and broader state of South Australia.

Nutshell situation: people on the popular, heavily-populated US West Coast are feeling the pinch of rising property prices. But rather than the old catchcry for fortune-seekers, ‘Go west, young man!’ suggests, they’re going east. Where property is cheaper. Not just cheaper but more affordable. That’s the distinguishing point. Land and houses haven’t just been expensive, they’ve become prohibitively out of reach. And rather than rent for life, paying off someone else’s mortgage, people are voting with their feet.

And they’re doing so in droves, to the point that big-company employers are following their diaspora into nearby states like Colorado. The phenomenon is being called the exodus to affordability. It’s a trend that’s been echoed in Australia’s eastern states by the Covid pandemic, with people looking to escape crowded, locked-down cities, happily working from home and seeking out new seachange and treechange lifestyles. But demand for the regions, such as the Queensland’s Gold Coast and Victoria’s Geelong region, has seen prices rise significantly. Demand is at a high not seen since the heady days of 2017, a boom brought to heel by the Banking Royal Commission.

Adelaide’s affordability, by contrast,  compares admirably with other capitals. Median house prices in Adelaide are $667K as opposed to Sydney’s $1.5m, Melbourne’s $1.3m and Brisbane’s $702K.

There’s also the not-so-small matter of Adelaide’s ranking as world number three in The Economist Intelligence Unit’s Global Liveability Index behind Auckland and Osaka. Perth ranks sixth and Melbourne ninth, making Adelaide the most liveable city in Australia. That’s all based on stability, healthcare, education, culture and environment, and infrastructure, and it is a huge plus for South Australia.

You can couple these with infrastructure projects, South Australia’s economic growth – the strongest of all the states last financial year, according The SA Centre for Economic Studies – and ongoing confidence emerging from Covid, as well as SA’s climate, tourism and status as a global wine capital. It’s not hard to see why people seeking out opportunity and a future where lifestyle plays more in their work-life balance might see South Australia as a new destination.

Villawood Properties’ role in this transition is important because it is bringing new standards of urban design, community living, quality, delivery and sustainability to the South Australian residential development sector. Put simply, it is improving the way people live, work, play and interact with their community. This isn’t slick marketing chatter. Villawood is Australia’s best greenfields developer, with a swag of credits to its name. its Gold Coast community Montego Hills is the current Best Residential Development in the country, selected by the Urban Development Institute of Australia.

Villawood has five major projects for 5000 homes worth $2bn in total that it is presently undertaking in South Australia including the 700-lot St Andrews it has just launched at Andrews Farm. Villawood’s arrival in SA was heralded by no less than Premier Steve Marshall with the announcement of a joint 1500-lot Oakden project with Renewal SA. And as Renewal SA chief executive Chris Menz said: “To have Villawood Properties establishing a permanent presence here on the back of this project is great news – it demonstrates confidence in South Australia and our economy.”

Other projects Villawood is bringing to Adelaide are:

• A 1700-home development at Gawler Belt, north of Adelaide and part of the Roseworthy Township Expansion.
• A partnership with the Gasparin and Brazzale Groups in a premium apartment and terrace home development at Seacliff supported by a retail centre, new medical and childcare facilities.
• A boutique acquisition at Golden Grove, currently undergoing rezoning investigations.

Villawood is actively broadening its national portfolio of metropolitan, regional and country projects to include Adelaide, Melbourne, regional Victoria, Sydney, the Gold Coast and Far North Queensland. It presently has 30 projects in progress and another 20 in its pipeline. A few other things, too. Villawood is consistently lauded for its creativity and innovation, its contribution to the industry and the community. It is well known for its community focus in all its endeavours and has received more than 20 industry awards across community engagement, master-planning, design, landscaping, environment and lifetime achievement.

Villawood has developed microgrid solar networks, 7-star energy precincts and Australia’s most water and energy-sustainable community, Aquarevo, in Melbourne. It donates close to $2 million a year to community groups, including the land for charity house-and-land auctions for the Royal Children’s Hospital Good Friday Appeal in Melbourne. It provides $10K savings for care workers such as nurses, paramedics, police, teachers, firefighters and personal carers.

One more thing about Villawood. It gives an equal-sized block of bushland to national forest for every residential block it sells. That’s a serious two-for-one deal you won’t see anywhere else, which in these times of increasing climate awareness really sets it apart as a developer with a difference.

Which is why Villawood really rates as an agent of change, not a follower. We can watch the property patterns elsewhere in the world but in Adelaide we can govern that change.