Metricon puts more than 50 display homes on the market nationwide: See the list

Amid financial scrutiny, Metricon has put more than 50 display homes worth $65m on the sale block across four states. See the full list of homes on offer.

Metricon has put more than 50 display homes worth some $65m up for sale across four states.

Searches of publicly-available listing details revealed at least 56 Metricon display homes were put up for sale in the past fortnight, with prices ranging from a $650,000 home in regional Victoria to three listed for more than $2m in the Brisbane suburb of Rochedale. The most expensive is a property with an estimated value of $3.2m in Melbourne.

In total value, the 56 properties are worth just under $65m.

Metricon has $17m worth of vacant land in NSW and Queensland for sale.

About two thirds of the properties are on the market with a leaseback arrangement – under which they would continue to act as display homes for the company – with the owner being paid a return of up to eight percent.

Metricon’s financial health has been under considerable scrutiny this year, with the country’s largest home builder finally reaching a rescue deal with its lender, the Commonwealth Bank, in May.

Metricon’s acting chief executive, Peter Langfelder, said the company’s owners would also inject $30m into the business.

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Mr Langfelder said on Thursday that the sales process was a regular part of the company's business cycle.

“Metricon builds displays, sometimes they are then sold to investors who lease them back to Metricon for a period of time to use as display homes, sometimes they are sold without a lease when they are not needed anymore,’’ he said in a statement.

“This is how Metricon has always run its display program. The display fund group are selling a number of display homes as part of the natural cycle of the fund’s operations. The majority of the displays will continue to be leased by Metricon.”.

The past financial year was a difficult one for construction companies, which were dealing with strong demand for new builds driven in part by the federal HomeBuilder scheme, complicated by delays and cost blowouts for supplies, putting pressure on fixed-price contracts.

High profile companies which failed during 2021-22 include Probuild, Privium, BA Murphy, Condev, ABD Group, Waterford Homes and Pivotal Homes.

Master Builders Australia chief executive Denita Wawn said recently that the cost of building materials was increasing at its fastest rate in more than 40 years “while delays and shortages with respect to both labour and products continue to obstruct building activity.”

Equifax head of product and rating services Brad Walters told News Corp Australia this week that small operators in the Australian construction industry could be the “canary in the coal mine’’, pointing to further difficulties looming..

“Rising rates of construction industry insolvencies and cost of living pressures continue to place a heavy financial burden on sole traders and small business owners,’’ he said.