Property research..how?

Hello,

I'm on a roll today, this is my third post, sorry guys

I would like to start researching for good CG suburb in Sydney where I could afford to buy my first IP.

Question is - where do I start my search? Every single source advices you to buy in strong CG area - how do I know how strong it is? I can get some free statistics for last 12 month from magazines and some websites, but I don't think its long enough period to judge?

I guess my real question is - does statistics for up to 40 years actually exists and available for public use? And better of for free? Otherwise I have to pay before I even know what I'm paying for..

Or do you think 12 months is enough to prove the point?

How do you guys doing research? Do you pay for every suburb you are interested on? If so, could you please share from what websites etc.. Any other methods to find string CG suburbs?

Thanks a lot for any info.

Hi again PiNoob- don't know if you ended up reading that article I recommended, but when it comes to selection of growth suburbs, I tend to use historical data for the last 10 yrs as a guide. Look for cg rates of 9%+ over last 10 yrs average for houses and 7%+ for units. Yields are important, but Residex (where you can buy this info for about $80 for the latest quarterly report) lists these as well, to make it easier for you. Best $80 you can spend as part of your DD, in my opinion.

Historical data is an important part of the selection process, along with other parameters- which I'm sure you've read about by now. Be careful with quarterly figures however, as the no. of sales in some suburbs is too small to draw conclusions from. Happy reading!

Hi Jacque,

thanks for your response!

Just finished reading your article, very good source of information, thank you.

Only problem is I still don't know where to start - it's like chicken and egg game for me.

What I mean is that most places will sell you statistical data for certain suburb, which means that I have already maid my mind on this suburb in the first place!

But I don't know which suburb performs well without statistics! It's like I almost need to buy information covering whole Sydney! That would be very costly.

Also, from what I can understand Residex only gives you last quarter report, not for last 10 years period? If so, where do you get statistics for last 10 years? Or I'm missing something here?

Thanks again.

piNoob said:

Hi Jacque,

thanks for your response!

Just finished reading your article, very good source of information, thank you.

Only problem is I still don't know where to start - it's like chicken and egg game for me.

What I mean is that most places will sell you statistical data for certain suburb, which means that I have already maid my mind on this suburb in the first place!

But I don't know which suburb performs well without statistics! It's like I almost need to buy information covering whole Sydney! That would be very costly.

Also, from what I can understand Residex only gives you last quarter report, not for last 10 years period? If so, where do you get statistics for last 10 years? Or I'm missing something here?

Thanks again.

Click to expand...

Residex will give you last years and quarters cg rates, yields and median values for any state in Australia, which covers every suburb in every capital city in abc order. They also provide the last 10yrs average cg rates etc and are well worth the money.

pinoob, I start from the idea that I can't pick the 'hot' suburbs. So instead, I look at yield and cashflow and just try to maximise the AMOUNT of property I hold and expect the long term average (7% or so). Think many properties instead of looking for a 'good' property. After 20 years, EVERY property is good, so my plan is to buy as much as I can. Buy in different suburbs. Buy in different cities. Buy a mix of properties. This is the index fund approach to property investing as opposed to the stock picking approach.
Alex

Jacque said:

Residex will give you last years and quarters cg rates, yields and median values for any state in Australia, which covers every suburb in every capital city in abc order. They also provide the last 10yrs average cg rates etc and are well worth the money.

Click to expand...

Thank you very much! In this case its really worth the price.

Here are some free sites to whet your appetite:
http://www.commbank.com.au/propertyvalueguide/

Free newsletter from residex:
http://www.residex.com.au/

Median weekly rents for Qld...but I'm sure there would be an equivalent for other states if you Google it:
http://www.rta.qld.gov.au/median_weekly_rents.cfm

Free suburb report here:
http://reports.rpdata.com.au/?gclid=CPS87azHwIsCFR5ShgoduQogoQ

Here is another free site that may be useful for comparing median property values and postcode demographics with others that have already been listed:

http://www.homepriceguide.com.au/snapshot/index.cfm?source=apm&cb=0407221617

Cheers,
AnneDe

thanks everyone for suggestions!

I'm also thinking of converting residex data from pdf into some form of database.
I work as software developer, so that shouldn't be too hard.

If I succeed, than I can sort, group by CG, rental yields etc, should make data analysis much easier.

PiNoob
All suburbs go up in value over time.
The key is to find properties that have low holding costs
That means you have to look for something with low purchase price and high rent.

I would probably go for a relatively new property in a decent western Sydney suburb
where the purchasing cost would be lower but the rent would be ok.
The added advantage with a newer place is that you also get depreciation.

Using this approach your out of pocket amount won't be much.
also, remember that rents are on the increase now due to shortage of rentals
so over time the situation will be even better.
Good luck.

try this thread, it has some advise on sydney suburbs
http://www.somersoft.com/forums/showthread.php?t=30298

And here is the 2007 Sydney property guide
warning, it's 7Mb
http://www.domain.com.au/content/files/property_guides/SydPropGuide2007.pdf

cheers

thanks BV for suggestions and the link to 2007 Sydney property guide!