Amalgamated apartment sales boom as cashed-up buyers search for more space
Buyers searching for greater space are increasingly looking to amalgamate adjoining apartments together as the pandemic continues to change the way people live.
While apartment demand in previous years was largely from investors, a jump in downsizers looking for larger spaces they can customise has seen a spate of amalgamated sales, according to Colliers Director of Residential and Project Sales Peter Kerras.
Kerras recently sold a one-bedroom and three-bedroom unit at NorthView Residences in St Leonards for $3.4 million. The one-bedroom unit on its own was difficult to sell due to the 48 sqm size. However, combined with the other larger unit, the 170 sqm total property was an attractive prospect for downsizers from Greenwich.
On top of this, an Australian expat paid $3.635 million for an amalgamated one-bedroom and three- bedroom apartment at Bond in Bondi Junction.
“Due to the absence of offshore foreign buyers, downsizers are now in the box seat to customise apartments and developers are happy to work with them,” Kerras said.
“The exponential increase in house prices across Sydney means they generally have more money to spend and the impact of covid has seen the demand for larger apartments skyrocket.”
“Developers have to lodge plans a few years before going to market, meaning they are very dependent on what is in demand at the time. With offshore buyers extremely active in the market for smaller apartments in premium locations, plans were initially made to suit this,” he added.
The emergence of the pandemic in 2019 changed this, as these buyers have taken a backseat, with downsizers and ex-pats far more active. As a result, plans are often too small for many current buyers and developers are adopting a more flexible approach to make sales.
Other similar sales have occurred at 111 Castlereagh in the CBD, The Heysen in Turramurra, Woolooware Bay and at East Side Quarter in Penrith, often resulting in record prices.
Designed by award-winning architects fjmtstudio, 111 Castlereagh is the residential component of the $1 billion mixed-use development by Cbus Property.
“Cbus Property is witnessing prospective purchasers’ growing appetite to customise and amalgamate our residences to meet their ever-changing needs," Cbus Property’s Chief Executive Officer, Adrian Pozzo, said.
"This has already been on our radar for some time – with the four residences in the soon-to-be-released Skyhome Collection at 111 Castlereagh in Sydney and a number of whole-floor residences at 17 Spring St in Melbourne, we have amalgamated several residences to suit purchasers’ needs in the past two years,”
