Prices, land supply, interest rates and FOMO might be grinding the property market’s gears right now but another factor again is colouring sentiment as a growing number of discerning buyers seek more social bang for the buck.<\/p>\n
Developer Villawood Properties says that factor is happiness. Yes, that elusive life goal. Turns out millennials, even boomers, are pursuing it with a will in the new ‘burbs.<\/p>\n
And that happiness is not just about prices, house size or design, even amenity for that matter. It’s about people, other people, neighbours, friends, kids, and their playmates.<\/p>\n
People to socialise with, to share and grow up or old with, people who’ll have your back when it matters.<\/p>\n
Villawood boss Rory Costelloe said people needed people, especially in new greenfield projects where they arrived knowing no-one but were keen to be part of a safe and happy community.<\/p>\n
“You don’t want to come to a new place and not know who your neighbours are and live a sad life.<\/p>\n
“Happiness is the key to the whole thing and you want to be in a healthy happy community.<\/p>\n
“Whether you go to Tarneit, Wollert, down to Geelong, or Bendigo or Ballarat, wherever, people are coming from somewhere else to live in a brand-new community.<\/p>\n
“They don’t know who their neighbours are going to be, they’ve never met these people before, and they really want to meet people.”<\/p>\n
Villawood takes a multi-layered approach to the issue, starting with a high proportion of owner-occupiers in its projects, actively steering away from investors \u2013 a big call for any developer.<\/p>\n
“We try to have 70 per cent owner-occupiers,” Mr Costelloe said.<\/p>\n
“You know your neighbour’s going to be there for a long time, you’ll be able to talk to them, share a cup of sugar and just know each other, your kids can grow up together over a long period of time.”<\/p>\n
Next is Villawood’s signature clubs, exclusive resort-style community hubs with cafes, pools, gyms, function venues, family spaces, sport courts, barbecues, community gardens\u2026 all aimed at helping bring newcomers together.<\/p>\n
“In the old days, the local focal point was the local church,” Costelloe, who grew up in regional Bendigo as the son of a policeman and teacher, said.<\/p>\n
“That was your bonding place to meet families and all get together and whether you’re religious or not is not so relevant.<\/p>\n
“The church was just the place where people came gather and met each other in a friendly and safe environment.<\/p>\n
“That doesn’t happen so much any more, particularly with traditional Australians.”<\/p>\n
In some of Villawood’s newer communities they are building quite a few temples, so that sense of community building is still happening.<\/p>\n
But for those who are not religious, Villawood have created their clubs where they have pools, gyms, and community centres and parents’ lounges and so on.<\/p>\n
Mr Costelloe said these clubs form real melting pots and new community bonds.<\/p>\n
“People come along and form new swimming groups, playgroups, walking groups, reading groups, tennis groups, gym groups.<\/p>\n
“If you have a common interest, you can meet through their Facebook groups.<\/p>\n
“Everyone forms these new little communities and it works really well because people just really want to come in and make new friends.”<\/p>\n
Villawood also provides land-price discounts for care workers, once again looking to consolidate the attributes brought to the community table by the likes of nurses, teachers, paramedics, police, personal carers, and health workers.<\/p>\n
“Our job is to create that real sense of community,” Mr Costelloe said.<\/p>\n
“Once buyers have chosen where they want to live, from the masterplan, from the precinct structure plan of the whole area, that’s where Villawood’s MO kicks in.<\/p>\n
“In so many ways, it’s ticking the boxes of common sense, in property, as often seems the case, common sense isn’t always that common.<\/p>\n
“People are social animals; they need to interact with others and I think that’s the key secret to what we do.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Prices, land supply, interest rates and FOMO might be grinding the property market’s gears right now but another factor again is colouring sentiment as a growing number of discerning buyers seek more social bang for the buck. Developer Villawood Properties says that factor is happiness. Yes, that elusive life goal. Turns out millennials, even boomers, […]<\/p>\n