Sydney

WHEN Ron Buxton bought his sprawling five-bedroom property in Sydney's Castle Hill for A$87,000 (S$89,000) in 1979, his was one of only two houses on a dead-end street, ringed by orange groves.

With Castle Hill now a bustling commuter suburb earmarked for rezoning, Mr Buxton and his neighbours have clubbed together to offer their homes as a development block for apartments, banking on a multimillion dollar payday thanks to a surge in Sydney house prices and an acute housing shortage.