Land in the new Belconnen suburb of Lawson has been snapped up with blocks selling on average $100,000 over the reserve price at auction on Tuesday.
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The Land Development Agency is auctioning 124 single blocks over two days in the first residential land release for the suburb.
During the first session of auctions, the blocks were selling for an average of $504,000 which was about $100,000 over the average reserve price.
There were 32 blocks auctioned and all of them sold following competitive bidding.
One purchaser paid $800,000 for a 1540 square metre block which was more than $200,000 higher than the reserve price.
Land Development Agency executive director of land development Chris Reynolds said the agency had not been surprised by the strong sales as the suburb was a unique site in an excellent location.
The government had decided to release the reserve prices for each block ahead of time so buyers would know the value of the land and could make an informed decision.
The LDA expected to clear about $41 million from the reserve prices listed but Mr Reynolds said they had not planned for more than that amount.
“When you go to auction, as we have here disclosing the reserves, we were more than happy with the reserve if that had of been achieved,” he said.
“What we've seen though is a very well informed market and purchasers willing to pay a little bit more to secure their dream home on some unique land that's well located.”
He said a lot of people had been keeping an eye on the release of the land, which had been on the land release program for a long time.
Mr Reynolds said the complex Commonwealth environmental clearance processes had taken a while to work through.
This added about two years onto the release of the suburb due to the presence of the Golden Sun Moth and native grassland.
About 1850 dwellings will become part of Lawson by the time it is completed.
Couple Alex Mammen and Prazoly Paul and their three children Joshua, Sarah and Jonathan will call the new suburb home after they successfully bid for a block of land.
Ms Paul said the family had turned up at 8am, bidding with no luck during the first session of the day.
They were about to give up when they were finally the highest bidders for a large block in a private location.
She said they had been very relieved and it had been quite a stressful situation.
They had been waiting for the release of land in the suburb so they could build a new house near Radford College, where Mr Mammen works and the children will go to school.
