MORE than $288 million was spent building new homes and upgrading old ones in Albury in the past four years.
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The investment gave the city almost 1000 new houses, apartments, home units and retirement units from July 2008 to June 30 this year.
The $288 million involved home upgrades requiring council approval, believed to total $60-$70 million.
But it didn’t include the cost of home upgrades that do not need official approval, a category totalling many more millions of dollars.
A new city land monitor published today suggests that with 462 vacant residential lots now available, Albury has ample land for expansion — mainly north of Thurgoona.
The 27-page monitor will go to the Albury Council’s planning committee tonight.
It will meet for the first time under the chairmanship of Cr Graham Docksey. The committee will not be required to make any decisions on it.
The monitor shows that $545 million was invested in all approved construction across the city in the four years. The pattern faltered during the period of the global financial downturn.
Last year, 109 new vacant residential lots were created, up 12 per cent on 2010-11.
About 40 per cent of the lots available are at Thurgoona, with another 19 per cent at Glenroy and some at Hume Gardens west of Norris Park.
There are also lots available at the city’s new estates at Spring Park and The Elms at Thurgoona.
Then there is Hudson Conway’s Somerset Rise estate north of Mitchell Park which will produce 492 lots and the Albury-Wodoga Corporation has more just north of that.
The monitor shows Mitchell Park is the city’s largest recent residential subdivision.
Of the 275 lots created there, only 46 remained vacant at June 30.
Retirement-village work has slowed, with the monitor recording that last year only 67 new dwellings were created as part of a multiple-unit or dual-occupancy development — a 14 per cent fall.
Larger “lifestyle” residential lots continue to be popular with home builders, notably at Table Top.
The monitor states the council is committed to maintaining a steady supply of quality and affordable vacant land to meet both residential and business market demand.
The data was prepared by city staff with the help of valuers and others.