Featherbrook: Worth the premium?

[Guest UGandSMUG]

Hi all,

 

We've made no secret on here that we really loved the Point Cook area of Melbourne and in particular like the idea of building on the New Featherbrook estate.

 

Here's my dilemma. Featherbrook is marketed by Central Equity as a premium 'lifestyle' estate but without a body corporate. Of course, everyone markets their estates as premium for obvious reasons. We were impressed by the displays, the plans and the amount of parkland within the estate (26%). Getting a nice size plot in a recent phase ($230k) along with a relatively big highly spec'd house ($270) hits our price point of $500k perfectly.

 

However, looking around the point cook / werribee area it's easy to find existing modern homes of similar spec and plot size for considerably less than this, and in some cases you even get slightly more for say $450-470k.

 

So why the premium? Which of my theories is closest to the truth?

 

1) Is it because all new build combinations are slightly more pricey because of the ability to spec everything to your tastes? and then do they instantly de-value once 'used'?

 

2) Is the Featherbrook estate actually a 'premium' development and therefore considerably more desirable than other Point Cook areas, hence the higher land costs?

 

3) Are the land costs merely a sliding scale, meaning the closer you get to the wet lands and coast, the higher the price?

 

4) Something else that I've not even considered........ :wacko:

 

The trouble is that if we move, rent then build our own place, we don't want to be stuck with a house that's instantly worth less than we paid. Central Equity themselves have told us that a return on investment is unlikely whilst the estate is still being developed and that once all plots are built on and the community is established will prices start to rise. We'd be very grateful on everyone's thoughts, especially anyone that's gone through a new build process themselves.

 

Many thanks,

 

Doug

 

 

P.S On a side note, I'm assuming that Point Cook in general is considered a 'nice' suburb?