The focus on the south-west region of Sydney has seen a rise in sales as developers scramble to get a foothold into the area to cater for the demand for new homes and infrastructure.
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According to JLL, this is evidenced by the sale of three properties recently sold by the agency in the suburbs of Liverpool, Fairfield and Moorebank.
This comes as Asciano aims to have a second freight hub transporting containers by rail to Port Botany within 12 months as it prepares to spend $100 million building a new intermodal terminal in western Sydney.
The 43-hectare hub, in the Sydney suburb of St Marys, could be open before a much-bigger competing freight terminal is opened at Moorebank by logistics group Qube and rival rail group Aurizon in late 2017.
Sydney's South West is currently the focus of the South West Growth Centre (SWGC) initiative, which is a housing, infrastructure, transport and employment plan for the growing precinct. The plan includes the key district of Liverpool and extends through Moorebank.
That initiative works with the "Plan for Growing Sydney", both by the NSW Department of Planning & Infrastructure, to reinvigorate other key areas in the west such as the employment hubs-to-be in Fairfield and Liverpool.
JLL has recently sold three large properties located in the South West Growth Centre, which were all sold as 'raw' sites, meaning development approvals are currently not in place.
JLL's director in charge at Parramatta, John Macree, said the prices achieved for these properties on a per unit equivalent basis ranged from $65,000 up to $105,000.
Mr Macree said the cost of these sites on a per unit basis was significantly lower than other Western Sydney suburbs where the entry point starts at around $150,000 per unit and upwards.
"Given that construction costs do not vary significantly in Sydney, a lower land cost will allow developers to bring online units at a much more attractive price point, likely to be more appealing to first home buyers," he said.
End unit prices averaged around $385,000 for the Liverpool Local Government Area in June 2015, which is comfortably within the range of the First Home Owners Grant too.
"The sale of these sites have generated strong inquiries and we've noticed a significant increase in competition throughout campaign periods to acquire the properties. Key strengths of these sites have include their close proximity to retail, transport and food offerings, further boosting the value proposition for developers and future residents," Mr Macree said.
However, the South West Growth Centre is also attractive for investors focused on the mid-to-long term, with five-year price growth of units at 8.1 per cent per annum in Liverpool, which is above the Local Government Area average of 7 per cent.
JLL's director, metro sales & investments NSW, Leslie Cheng said, as first home buyers continued to be priced out of central markets, the marriage of jobs and housing growth in the South West Growth Centre presents a great opportunity for the market. The planned infrastructure and the growing population rates of the precinct signals good news for developers holding supply.
"Liverpool in particular is receiving significant downstream benefits of being both close to Badgery's creek and for being a hub of its own right. The SWGC plan will aim to direct economic activity into the Bankstown-Liverpool Enterprise corridor in coming years. Liverpool also has a population growth rate of 1.9 per cent, four basis points above the Greater Sydney average.
"It's for these key reasons we except inquiry and demand to remain strong in the precinct in the medium-long term," Mr Cheng said.
