Warrnambool land sale to fetch $20m ahead of 600 house lot project

The 48-hectare lot along Aberline Road has been on the market for about a week and already 48 parties have registered their interest in the sale.

Expressions of interest close on July 14 at midday.

Biggin & Scott Land agent Frank Nagle said the land, which came under the East of Aberline Road Structure Plan, was still waiting on Victorian Planning Authority approval.

"I can't quite work out why it hasn't been progressed faster," he said.

"The government's saying all this stuff about wanting to alleviate supply issues and affordability yet they've been tinkering around with this thing forever."

Mr Nagle said the land - bordered by Wangoom and Boiling Down roads - was expected to sell for about $20 million with it earmarked for 617 housing blocks.

He said there was a retirement village operator who had the option on part of the land at the Boiling Down Road end which "was the perfect use for it".

The level of interest from potential buyers was just a sign there was no oversupply of wholesale land in Victoria, let alone Warrnambool, he said,

Mr Nagle said if the land wasn't snapped up by a local buyer, it would "certainly" be a major Victorian land developer.

He said it was hard anywhere to buy 600 blocks of land.

Mr Nagle said it cost between $80,000 to $100,000 to produce each of the 617 blocks. "So there's a fair bit of money involved," he said. "It's a $200 million project.

"Warrnambool's a classic regional story. It's got no land. It's go no supply."

He said when blocks of land were coming onto the market they were being snapped up.

Mr Nagle said the treechange and seachange phenomenon was still happening. "You can live a nicer lifestyle there," he said. "It's a great town Warrnambool."

Mr Nagle said a lot of the buyers for blocks of land in Warrnambool were people selling out of Torquay at very good prices.

He said land prices in Torquay had tripled in the past 10 years, and residents were now selling their house and land packages for $1.25 million replacing them with cheaper properties in Warrnambool.

"There's no more land in Torquay, if you're a developer the next best thing to Torquay is Warrnambool," he said.

IN OTHER NEWS:

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content:

Now just one tap with our new app: Digital subscribers now have the convenience of faster news, right at your fingertips with The Standard:

Have you signed up to The Standard's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in the south-west.