There have been a number of reports recently stating that demand for apartments in Melbourne and Australia, as a whole, is beginning to slow. A fear, which has only been heightened with the recent tightening on foreign lending by three of the big four banks.

But broad-brush analysis of the Australian apartment market does not accurately address its inherent complexities, as there are many different forces at play.

While a number of indicators suggest sectors of the market have become more discerning, we believe the apartment market is still strong when it comes to the right product.

That is, product that’s well designed by top tier architects that appeals to a local owner/occupier market. Apartments that are spacious, well located, amenity rich and highly livable with plenty of natural light. The recent Sky One project in Box Hill provides an interesting case-study.

Designed by DKO Architecture, Sky One is ideally located to give residents the best of all worlds from its pre-eminent position at the heart of Box Hill. With the Box Hill central shopping centre on its doorstep and adjacent to the hugely popular Asian fresh food markets, Sky One presides over Box Hill’s buzzing street culture of cafés, dumpling houses and traditional Asian restaurants.

Residents will also enjoy a wide range of amenities on site, with landscaped gardens, pool, gym, spa, sauna, family wet area, yoga studio, formal and informal lounges, private dining, private cinema/media room, and entertainment room. There will also be three levels of luxury retail, which will provide inhabitants with everything they would need to never leave the building!

Appealing primarily to local Box Hill residents, the launch of the project last month saw over $140 million of sales and 85 percent of stage one sold in just eight hours. The majority of these buyers were local Box Hill residents - hundreds of whom had lined up before 9am to be the first to go through the display suite.

Following on from the successful Sky One launch, the stage two launch is now underway with a select number of apartments released to meet the high demand for new stock. These are premium apartments reserved by Golden Age with spacious floor plans and excellent position within the building. Whoever missed out on the initial Sky One launch offer is advised to visit the luxury display suite to make the most of the second stage offer.

For local Box Hill residents Sky One has proved to be a compelling proposition, with the basic property market fundamentals remaining strong; including low interest rates, a resilient domestic economy and Melbourne continuing to be ranked one of the most livable cities in the world.