The latest residential development to hit the market in Docklands is Banksia, which is 70% sold only weeks after its retail launch. 

The roomy penthouses and sky homes were the first residences to be snapped up. The two penthouses sold for around $5 million. Almost half of the sky homes have sold for close to $3 million. Sales of Banksia residences have reached more than $80 million.

In discussing the reasons behind the strong demand, MAB Corporation's General Manager of Residential, David Allt-Graham, said "Melbourne as a city is becoming more global, and that's attracting wealth from all over the world. That's a fairly recent phenomenon. I also think that the wealth is shifting from established homes into apartments. Going back a few years, everyone wanted to live in large houses in the suburbs, but now we're seeing a lot more people who want to live in apartments. So that means people who've spent $10 million on a home in Brighton are quite often spending that money at Docklands instead."

"I think there's more depth in the luxury market than there has been before. There's been a shortage of supply of larger apartments. There has been a focus on small, investment oriented apartments in the city. People have ignored the owner/occupier market, and there are a lot of baby boomers downsizing to apartments. They're freeing up money in their houses and moving to apartments that still need to be large enough to see out them through the remaining 20-30 years of their lives."

Founder and Executive Director of MAB Corporation, Andrew Buxton, said “We’ve had an overwhelming response to Banksia from families who have responded well to the apartments because they offer generous floor plans and amenities you would typically find in a three-bedroom house. The news of Haileybury College opening a city campus nearby has also been a major drawcard,” he said.

The latest census data confirms the trend of families taking up apartment living in the heart of Melbourne. Families with children living in Melbourne’s CBD grew from 17.4% in 2006 to 21.4% in 2011. 

The fall in the Australian dollar to a six-year low has also contributed to demand from offshore. David said, "If you follow the numbers, you're almost seeing a discount for the Chinese. If the Chinese currency is devalued, that benefit will be eroded. We don't live or die by those things, but right now there is a sweet spot."

Following recent successes, MAB will continue to focus on projects in the New Quay, Docklands area, according to David. "Our approach to projects is going to be consistent with what we're doing at the moment. We've got an owner-occupier, luxury project in Banksia, and we've got more affordable offerings in the inner Quay. We want to continue on that basis, where we have two smaller projects in the market at one time, and we're very targeted to different segments of the market. We believe you can't be all things to all people in the one project. And we don't want to be doing really large projects we're seeing in other parts of the city. We want to do smaller, boutique, focused projects. So we'll have two similar projects coming up in the year ahead."

Banksia sits beside Victoria Harbour, and is nestled in its own native garden. It’s part of the $140 million NewQuay project developed by MAB Corporation. Banksia boasts a CBD location, waterfrontage, and proximity to the arts precinct. Apartments and sky homes are still available, and are priced from $505,000 to $2.75 million.

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