iBuildNew adds land listings to boost home buyer searches

iBuildNew has expanded its online marketplace for new home buyers and investors in Australia, adding hundreds of land estate listings alongside home designs and house-and-land packages.

Acquired by Third Door Ventures, the business is positioning itself as a single place where users can search, compare and shortlist options from builders across the country, rather than relying on separate builder websites, land listings and display suites.

The expansion adds land estate listings to an offer that already includes builder and design comparisons, broadening the site's role in the new-build market. The aim is to give buyers more information before they enter discussions with sales teams.

Mike Bird, Executive Director, iBuildNew, said improving the experience for people planning a new home remained central to the business.

"There's a lot of focus right now on making that home-builder experience better, and ultimately that's just going to continue to improve the process for the consumer and the builder alike," Bird said.

He also said the business wanted to publish more positive stories about the housing market, drawing on lessons from sister site Apartments.com.au.

"We're taking what we've learned from Apartments.com.au, and we're looking to continue to produce good-news stories," Bird said.

"The positive news cycle is a key aspect of driving consumer confidence," he said.

Bird said buyer sentiment remained mixed, with some areas recording price declines while investor interest in Melbourne had strengthened.

"While property prices are declining in some areas, in places like Melbourne we're seeing more investor interest than we've ever seen," he said.

"With platforms like iBuildNew, we want to put everything in one place for buyers," Bird said. "After all, it's perhaps the biggest financial decision people will make in their lives."

Builder choices

The expansion also highlights what the business sees as a broader consumer problem in the home-building market: many buyers commit to builders without enough information about contracts, pricing and standard inclusions.

That concern comes as construction costs have risen sharply. Citing Australian Bureau of Statistics Producer Price Index figures, the company said the cost of building a house in Australia rose by about 42% between March 2021 and March 2026.

Jake Taylor, General Manager, iBuildNew, said many Australians still approached the process with too little context about the builder they were choosing.

"A good builder isn't hard to identify if you know what to look for, and most of the signals show up before you've signed anything," Taylor said.

"The buyers who navigate this well aren't necessarily more experienced - they've just done the work upfront," he said.

"They've compared builders before walking into a display suite, understood what's included and what isn't, and asked the right questions before signing anything," Taylor said.

One of the clearest warning signs, he said, was pressure to commit quickly, especially before a buyer had fully reviewed contract documents.

"A legitimate builder doesn't need you to commit before you've had time to read the contract properly," Taylor said. "If there's urgency to lock in a deposit before documentation is complete, that's worth paying attention to."

Pricing risks

Pricing was another area where buyers could be misled, Taylor said. In a market still dealing with higher input costs, quotes well below comparable offers should prompt closer scrutiny rather than immediate confidence.

"A price that sits well below everyone else's doesn't mean you've found a bargain - in the current cost environment, that gap has to come from somewhere," he said.

Lower quotes could be attractive for households under budget pressure, he said, but warned the shortfall often surfaced later in the build.

"A quote that's $30,000 to $50,000 below the rest of the market is hard to ignore when you're managing a tight budget," Taylor said. "The problem is that in a fixed-price contract environment, a builder who has underquoted has to recover that margin somewhere."

"It usually shows up later, through variations, substituted inclusions, or a build that drags on well past its contracted completion date," he said.

Taylor also said display homes can create a misleading impression if buyers assume they reflect a builder's standard product or financial health.

"A polished showroom doesn't tell you anything about the builder's financial position or what a standard build actually looks like," he said. "Most of what you see in a display is an upgrade."

iBuildNew argues that better comparison tools may help buyers ask harder questions before signing. For households and investors weighing a major financial commitment in a volatile housing market, the business is betting that greater transparency at the research stage can lead to better decisions later.

iBuildNew describes itself as an online marketplace connecting buyers with builders, designs and house-and-land packages across Australia, alongside editorial content and builder interviews intended to give users more context before they enter a sales conversation.