Bought for $225k, sold for $43 million
Three siblings from southeast Melbourne have become multi-millionaires overnight after selling their family’s former pea farm in Officer.
The life changing sale saw the siblings sell the 12.3 hectare Rix Road block for $43 million last week - $11 million above the reserve price - after attracting local and international developers looking to snap up the urban growth zone site.
According to CoreLogic records, the property last sold in 1988 for just $225,000.
Image: realestate.com.au
The Sun Herald reported that the siblings and their elderly mother were the beneficiaries of the trio’s late stepfather’s estate, which included the land.
CBRE agent David Minty, who brokered the sale along with fellow CBRE agents, said the three siblings were aged in their 50s and had “standard” day jobs.
“They weren’t wealthy people so this is completely life changing for them,” he said.
“It’s a really special sale just knowing how life changing it is for this particular family. You go from a simple day job, you don’t have a huge amount of money, and all of a sudden you’ve got a sizable sum. They’ve always been a private, courteous and respectful family. They may just maintain their same lifestyles - they’re not flashy people.”
Mr Minty said the land had formerly been used to grow peas, and he believed the siblings’ grandfather had worked as a farmer for former Governor-General and federal minister Lord Richard Casey, which the City of Casey was named after.
Developers YouLand and Satterley have projects surrounding the block, but YourLand, backed by Japanese company Nippon, was able to secure the sale.
“We’re experiencing strong demand from developers looking to secure development pipelines in this region, which is unlikely to be satisfied in a market which is very short on appropriately zoned or earmarked landholdings,” said Mr Murfale, who also brokered the deal.
It is understood that the buyer paid more than it hoped for, having first offered the family $27 million off-market last year.
“The sale price smashes all metrics achieved for a development site sale in Officer, representing a record rate of $3.65 million per hectare,” Mr Minty said.
“Whether it’s a shift in mindset with COVID, with people wanting to live out in the areas and buy their own house and set up their families, [the demand is] just quite extraordinary.”