Port Campbell's largest subdivision has finally been given the green light to begin construction while in Warrnambool some young people have been walking away from their blocks.
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The 53 blocks in the Arches estate in Port Campbell sold out in weeks when they hit the market during the pandemic.
And now, two-and-a-half years later, the blocks have finally been titled which means owners can start to build houses on them.
In a unique move, Falk & Co's Gary Attrill said the blocks were first offered to local residents - in line with the owners' wishes - with 13 selling in a week.
The rest were then opened to the general public which were sold in three online auctions because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"They all sold really quick," Mr Attrill said.
"All up it only really took about two or three weeks to sell them all.
"It's been the development process since then and it's finally come to fruition."
Mr Attrill said initial buyers paid about $240,000 for some blocks but they were now worth as much as $100,000 more.
He said one block that wasn't part of the original sale was recently sold and fetched $340,000.
"It's probably gone up around that $100,000 mark," Mr Attrill said.
The final approvals is set to spark a flurry of building activity in Port Campbell bringing a boost to the town's population of 440 - perhaps by as much as 25 per cent.
"It's the most major subdivision there ever," he said.
Mr Attrill said most blocks had to sold south-west residents with a few to Melbourne buyers.
While the Port Campbell estate had been a success, Mr Attrill said land sales in general were pretty tough at the moment.
"The younger ones can't afford to build so they're handing a lot of blocks back around Warrnambool," he said.
He said these were blocks that were in the development stage and hadn't yet settled.
And because it was taking so long to do the developments, the sunset clause was expiring which allowed them to step away and get their deposits back.
"There's a few of those around Warrnambool," Mr Attrill said.
"It's a shame. It's really tough on the young ones."
Despite the cost of construction rises on the back of higher inflation, Mr Attrill said there were still people building houses.
Katrina Lovell
Katrina Lovell is a senior journalist at The Standard who covers council news and human interest stories.
Katrina Lovell is a senior journalist at The Standard who covers council news and human interest stories.
