Sydney proptech Coposit has cracked the deposit-saving barrier with its pilot project after buyers used the platform to secure apartments in the new $56 million The George project by Civic Properties.
The platform delivered the overwhelming majority of sales for The George, with 78% of buyers electing to purchase using the Coposit process, rather than a traditional 10% deposit upfront.
Some 70% of The George Coposit users were first-home buyers who combined the platform with their first-home owners grant to secure an apartment. Almost a quarter (23%) said they could not have proceeded without Coposit.
Coposit CEO Chris Ferris said the scheme had been a huge success for The George, opening up opportunities to buyers who would otherwise not have been able to get a foothold on the property ladder.
“Many first-home buyers at The George were able to take advantage of government incentives, and every buyer who secured a property using Coposit settled their purchases,” he said.
“One buyer would not have been able to buy at all without the help of Coposit, but by settlement he was also able to take advantage of the $10,000 first-home buyers grant, zero stamp duty, and a lenders’ mortgage insurance waiver.”
Coposit is designed to level the playing field for property buyers, allowing them to secure their new home with a fraction of the deposit upfront. Once the contract is signed, buyers make weekly instalments towards the deposit, known as ‘coposits’, over the course of construction.
The George at Seven Hills in Sydney’s west comprises 97 apartments offering one, two and three-bedroom designs priced from $450,000 to $750,000.
Since launching with Civic Properties, Coposit has been rolled out by multiple developers on projects located in NSW, Victoria, the ACT and Queensland.
Buyers have been using the system to secure house-and-land packages, townhouses and apartments ranging in price from $450,000 to $2 million.
Mr Ferris said Coposit also offered benefits for developers.
“Developers using Coposit are more likely to maintain their asking prices, because it is an incentive for buyers to get into the market more readily,” he said.
“Developers are also reporting that Coposit has increased the speed of pre-sales which has enabled them to start construction sooner, reducing holding costs and project sell-down periods. The early success of our pilot project has led the way for more developers to get on board. We see this as just the beginning for Coposit.
“For property buyers, especially first-home buyers, they are getting into their home a lot quicker than it takes to save a deposit while waiting for the project to be built.”
Since the pilot, Coposit is now available in more than 25 projects with a total of 1400 properties, including house-and-land packages, across the eastern seaboard by developers including Third.i, Mulpha, Geocon and Goldfields Group.