Hotspotting.com.au
Let’s get this clear from the start – Terry Ryder is not bullish on Tasmania.
“They’ve had factory closures, they have a hung parliament situation that doesn’t help confidence and they’ve got a number of projects that have been scrapped or stalled,” he says.
The most notable projects canned or on the backburner include the Gunn’s pulp mill, the Brighton Bypass and a number of large property development.
One bright spot is the area of Kingston, south of Hobart (this areas includes Kingston Town and Kingston Beach). Ryder says a bypass project and a large commercial shopping precinct have injected activity into the area.
“Tasmania doesn’t get much population growth but one of the standout areas growing is that Kingston local government area,” Ryder says.
“But just be aware of the state’s underlying economic factors.”
Hotspotting.com.au
In keeping with his regional towns theme, Terry Ryder likes the Victorian city of Geelong as his top southern hotspot.
As with other major regional centres around Australia, the state government has invested strongly in the area in a bid to decentralise some state government functions.
The town’s industrial areas are performing well (including Geelong’s traditional strength, car making) and it is also benefitting from a ring road development. Geelong is also not far from the affordable Bellarine Peninsula.
And if that’s not enough to convince you, Ryder says good recent performances of the Geelong Cats AFL team should.
“It really does have an impact on community spirit and it brings money into the town.”
APM
Given Melbourne’s booming house prices over the last two years, with annual growth running at 20% in some areas, it’s hardly surprising that Yvonne Chan is looking outside of the city’s inner suburbs. Here top picks include houses in the western suburb of Laverton, units in the south eastern suburb of Dandenong units in the inner eastern suburb of Box Hill. The good news for bargain hunters is that most of Chan’s picks have a median price under $400,000.
RP Data
RP Data’s Tim Lawless is looking at houses on the fringe of Melbourne’s inner city for his top-performing areas. To the east of the city, the extremely popular suburbs of Burwood and Mount Waverly stand out, although explosive price growth in both suburbs has pushed median prices well above the $700,000 mark. However, there are a few affordable options, including Fawkner (median of $410,000) and the Laverton (median $330,000).
In terms of units, Lawless is looking closer to the city, with Port Melbourne, Essendon and South Melbourne at the top of the pile. However, the median prices in all of the top-performing suburbs are over $400,000.
Hotspotting.com.au
Terry Ryder admits some surprise that house prices in Perth have fallen in recent months, with the latest statistics from RP Data suggesting a 4.8% drop in the three months to August. With the resources sector booming again, the fact that house prices are falling in the West does seem a little illogical.
“It surprises me a bit. WA’s future economically and in real estate is just so strong,” Ryder says.
To the south of Perth, Ryder says Bunbury experienced big price drops in 2006-07, but looks to have a strong future.
Looking north, he nominates Geraldton, Port Headland and Karratha as towns well-placed to benefit from the mining boom and fresh investment in regional areas.
APM
Prices in Perth might have dropped in recent months, but Yvonne Chan’s list of the hotspots in Perth highlights the strong performance of the city in the last five years. The suburbs of Wellard, Tapping and Bertram have produced annualised growth of almost 30% over the last five years, although Bertram remains particularly affordable.
RP Data
As Tim Lawless’ top picks show, it doesn’t take long to sell a house in the Perth suburb of Padbury – homes in the suburb spend just 20.4 days on the market, with vendors typically accepting a discount of just 2.6% on a median price of $480,000. Like most of the suburbs on Lawless’ list, Padbury is well outside the 10 kilometre city band, with a particular focus on the north of the city.
Turning to units, many of the best-performed suburbs are much closer to town, including Leederville, Maylands and Glendalough. However, it is worth noting there is a vast difference in median prices, ranging from $2888,000 in Glendalough to $512,500 in Leederville.
James was the editor and publisher of SmartCompany and LeadingCompany for five years. He is now the Australian Financial Review‘s companies & markets editor, and a former BRW editor.
