What the "from" price actually excludes

Every Melbourne display village prints a "from" price on a facade. In 2026 that figure is almost always a base build only: standard site costs, standard inclusions, standard block. The all-in figure a real Melbourne buyer signs a loan against is the base build plus the block, plus site works, plus statutory statutory levies, plus the difference between a base and a workable spec.

The under-quoted line items that catch first-time buyers most often in Melbourne: piered footings on reactive clay in the western growth corridors; H1 to H2 slab class upgrades once the soil test comes back; two-storey scaffold if the site drops; Section 173 agreement fees on certain estates; the growth areas infrastructure contribution (GAIC) on qualifying land; and the standard "provisional sum" items that are quoted low at tender and reconciled up at construction.

• Base build (contract sum) - the number the ad quotes
• Land contract price plus stamp duty (SRO calculator)
• Site costs: piered footings, retaining, cut-and-fill
• Slab class upgrade if the soil report comes back reactive
• Statutory: GAIC (where applicable), Section 173 agreement fees
• Connections: power, water, sewer, storm and NBN
• Landscaping, driveway, fencing, letterbox to occupancy standard

Where Melbourne diverges from Adelaide on cost

A common question we get from Adelaide buyers considering Melbourne: "how different is the number?". Three drivers push the Melbourne total meaningfully above the Adelaide equivalent for the same brief.

One, land itself: even in the outer growth corridors Melbourne land trades higher than the SA equivalent per square metre. Two, site costs: the western growth corridors carry reactive clay that pushes slab classifications up, and greenfield estates carry piering and cut-and-fill routinely. Three, statutory: Victoria has line items South Australia does not (GAIC, Section 173, the foreign purchaser additional duty for non-resident buyers). None of these makes Melbourne "expensive" - they just make an apples-to-apples comparison misleading unless you break down all three.

How BuildPilot uses this report

The 57 packages currently in our Victorian feed pull directly from partner suppliers with the base build, block price and land size on each card. When live builder matching opens for Melbourne, the shortlist we hand you will include a plain-English breakdown of each of the cost components above, tied to your actual block. Until then, the report is here as a reference for people building their own quote comparison spreadsheet.