First blocks of land in Macnamara, part of the ACT's Ginninderry development, sold in ballot release

Around 12,300 hopeful buyers registered their interest for the first 71 blocks of land in Canberra's newest suburb following an announcement in January.

Part of the Ginninderry development, Macnamara is expected to house about 4500 residents once complete. The suburb is located about a 12-minute drive from the Belconnen Town Centre.

Buyers were chosen randomly from the registration pool and successful applicants gathered at The Link sales office in Strathnairn on Saturday to select their parcel of land.

Prices started at $377,900 for a 350 square metre lot, through to $763,600 for the largest block at 935 square metres.

The first person to secure a block was Priyanshu Chechi, a first home buyer from South Australia relocating to Canberra to be closer to family.

He said Macnamara's location and proposed amenities were among his reasons for entering the ballot.

Andrew and Aritsara Corey said they were "ecstatic" to also secure a block for themselves and their two young children.

"Our decision to buy was mostly about the kids," Mr Corey said.

"So, with the school and so much public space nearby, it will be perfect for them."

Ginninderry project director Steve Harding said once registrations were vetted for multiple entries, the number of confirmed registrations was still around 8700.

"We were expecting there to be a large number of people interested, but by all measures that number was, perhaps, beyond our expectations," he said.

He said 16 per cent of ballot registrations were from people currently residing outside the Canberra region.

"We had people from South Australia, Victoria, Sydney and then regional New South Wales," Mr Harding said.

"So we actually were attracting quite a diversity of interest, which was nice from our perspective that we've obviously got a broad appeal, in terms of what we're offering here."

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Named after Australian scientist Dame Jean Macnamara, Macnamara is the second suburb in the Ginninderry development, a joint venture between the ACT government and Riverview Developments.

Once complete, Ginninderry will be home to about 30,000 residents and 11,500 homes across four suburbs.

The ACT government's rate of land release came under scrutiny last year, after it was revealed about 7500 people registered to buy 115 blocks in Taylor.

Suburban Land Agency defended the rate of release, with chief executive John Dietz telling an ACT budget estimates hearing in October the agency supplied land faster than population growth in Canberra demanded it.

A spokesperson from the Suburban Land Agency said while the agency "cannot unilaterally increase the program", the land release is reviewed annually and is subject to change as market conditions evolve.

The spokesperson said the ACT Government has maintained its land supply over the last four years, despite the impacts of economic cycles and COVID-19.

"When the private sector was reducing its inventories, and limiting new releases, SLA continued to release new blocks to the market even if they did not sell at the time," they said.

"As a result, a significant inventory of land was available over the counter from SLA at the beginning of 2020-2021, which was taken up by customers as the pandemic conditions eased and market confidence returned."

Mr Harding confirmed more Macnamara blocks are expected to be released in the middle of 2022.

"Ideally, we'd love to be able to supply more land at the moment, and we'll have another release coming out later this year, because there certainly is more demand than we do have at the moment to be able to supply," he said.

"I expect that the demand side of things will continue to be quite strong for the next period of time until perhaps there's a change in interest rates ... but at this stage there's certainly continued strong demand."

Alongside 71 blocks of land, 55 house and land packages were also made available through selected builders. Majority of the homes are now under contract.

In December, the ACT government purchased two blocks of rural land in NSW that will form part of the development. The entire project is expected to span about 1600 hectares across the ACT and NSW.

According to the Ginninderry website, the project will take almost 40 years to complete, assuming 300 dwelling sites are released each year.

The first blocks of land in Macnamara are expected to settle between February and October 2023.

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