Elizabeth, North Adelaide, SA

[steveadl]

Dear All

I fail to see how Elizabeth in total (all the different Elizabeth's) are going to be more expensive than a well placed property in Salisbury. If that is happening then we really do have a problem and over inflated prices in Elizabeth.

I own in Salisbury around 500m from Train Station and Shopping Mall.

Bully

Agree with you 100% Bulldog!

Although don't forget this thread was started a few months back, and Elizabeth prices have run quite a bit since then.

I think at this stage now, you can find better value in Salisbury as you mentioned (or other suburbs even closer to Adelaide). When your talking at equal or only slightly higher prices in Salisbury - I'd rather buy there. I think though part of the reason is that Eliz's have run so hard, especially with WA/NSW interest, but Salisbury has not attracted as much attention.

I believe Salisbury suburbs are due for a re-rating too. I've just secured a deal this week for someone, and in the end I found I was looking at better value in Salisbury. Got them a near new IP with 3br/2bth/2gge for $265k which is the same or even less than I was looking to spend for them in Munno Para West/Smithfied which were the other subrubs I was interested in. There's a couple good new places in Salisbury on REA at the moment.

(Bonus with the deal in Salisbury I secured is a 6 month settlement, so by the time they have to pay IMO it will have already gone up at least $5-10k)

The last purchase I made for someone up North was a few weeks back in Davoren Park, but that was due to the fact they had a strict budget limit of $170k but still wanted stand alone with good development potential.

I think at the moment for new IP's you can get equal or even cheaper prices in Salisbury, Parafield Gardens, Burton etc. For old IP's with development possibility you can also get similar prices to Elizabeth in those suburbs, and even closer such as Para Hills, Valley View, Ingle Farm etc for a little bit more - but look how much closer to the CBD you are.

 

[Bulldog]

Salisbury/Elizabeths

Sash, Steve

Thanks for the info. Been out of the loop for a little while - just confirmed this with a little surfing through the realestate.com.au website.

We bought the IP in Aug 06 and it looks as though we have made at least a 50% return on our investment in that time. The house next door is actually for sale at the moment on the website and they are taking "offers over" - amazing!! So Salisbury has definately moved around the centre of the CBD.

We bought a stand alone older house on a bigger block as close as we could to schools, train station, shops and park.....once again the formula seems to work. What I will say is my wife visited the area twice and we "walked the streets", "visited the malls" etc etc. I reckon there must be a bit of buying over the phone going on based on what you are saying.

Where next? Will have a look at the suburds you mention....we did look at Elizabeth South and Vale and liked these parts of Elizabeth for the same reasons as we liked Salisbury...they seem to still offer good value.

Bulldog

 

[Darren1968]

Adelaide

I have been keeping an eye on the Elizabeth and Salisbury areas lately mainly because that is where I live and am investing.

The cheapest semi I have seen in the last month or so was $145,000 and it was an absolute dump.

A decent semi seems to be worth around $165,000 these days.

Personally I'm not a fan of the semi's as I believe they are overpriced for what they are and I think this is due in a large part to interstate investors attracted by the low prices as compared to their home states.

I also believe the rental demand for these semi's will fall due to the vast amount of new properties being built in the northern suburbs.

There are brand new 3 bedroom homes renting for only $30 a week more than a 40 year old semi.

Which would you choose as a tenant looking to rent?


I have just bought a 600sqm corner block in a new estate in the northern suburbs (Playford Waters) and when the 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom, double garage home is built on it I will have spent $240,000 total.

When I compare this brand new home which will rent for approx $280 per week in a flash new estate surrounded by other newly built homes and give me a stack of depreciation with minimal maintenance costs to a 40 year old home renting for $170 with little or no depreciation in a street full of other semis in a less desirable area then I think the extra money is worth it.

However on the other side of the coin - many of the older areas in the north of Adelaide are earmarked for urban renewal and if you own a pair of semi's they are perfect for redevelopment in the future.

If you got in while they were cheap - even better.

Keep investing in Adelaide everybody. We're enjoying the attention.

 

[poppy]

I have just bought a 600sqm corner block in a new estate in the northern suburbs (Playford Waters) and when the 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom, double garage home is built on it I will have spent $240,000 total.

Congrats on your purchase Darren. I own a new place right near playford waters, in the subdivision on Coventry Rd opposite the sheep paddock and school.

I'm currently considering my options with this place. I really don't want to sell it, but I need to take some action to protect the place which has been constantly hit by thieves and vandals (and continues to be even with tenants in there).

I am interested of course in hearing from other people who are building or own new homes in the area so that we can try to help each other. Mind you, I don't really have any great ideas as to what can be done to help. I don't live in Adelaide and so it's pretty hard for me to raise an angry mob of locals to roam the streets and catch the criminals. I'd like to hire some security patrols but you need a lot of people to make that viable cost wise.

 

[Darren1968]

vandalism

I think this is going to be an ongoing problem in this area until they finally bring in the bulldozers and redevelop the entire area.

Hopefully some of the less desirables will be shifted out.

While I'm sure there have been instances of vandalism in Playford Waters I think there has been a lot less than many other developments because the estate is tucked away out of sight.

I drive through there each weekend and have only seen one smashed window so far.

I think the saying is "out of sight - out of mind".

Those developments right on coventry road are in plain view and seem to attract more attention from the local yobbo's.

Another problem area has been Playford Mews. The main entrance to this estate is the main thoroughfare for those walking to and from the train station.

I was considering building in that estate but an hour or so spent sitting in my car watching all the undesirable walk through there to catch the train really turned me off.

Even worse is the behaviour and attitude of those returning on the last train in the evening (around 12:30 am).

Having those people walk past your home every night in a drunken state would be a nightmare.

Our local paper has been documenting all the vandalism cases and Playford Mews got a bit of a write up.

The number of water meters being stolen every week (for the brass) is staggering.

The properties backing on to the train line have also been the subject of repeated vandalism attacks.

I'm hoping that as my home will be the last built in that land release (due to it being a late sale after a previous buyer pulled out), that the area being fully populated will deter the vandals and thieves.

Time will tell I guess.

 

[steveadl]

Where next? Will have a look at the suburds you mention....we did look at Elizabeth South and Vale and liked these parts of Elizabeth for the same reasons as we liked Salisbury...they seem to still offer good value.

Bulldog

If you still want the lowest cost, I'd head more towards the Salisbury's as I mentioned.

If your budget is a bit higher, I'd go closer to the city. Areas like Vallew View, Para Hills, Para Vista are only marginally higher than Salisbury. Also, my money is (literally) on the subrubs closer to the CBD such as Enfield, Clearview, Broadview, Sefton Park, Blair Athol and to a lesser extent Kilburn.

 

[mmmggg]

Website check it out.

PlayfordAlive.com.au get it time to download. Cool Matthew.

 

[Kam]

I'm confused!

Hi all
I'm new to this forum, wish I'd found it earlier! I also wish I bought in Elizabeth a year ago - almost did but the pair of semis failed the pest inspection... It all seemed too much of a hassle at the time, and in the end I'm not that comfortable spending that much and not seeing the place for myself.
Anyway, having read everyone's posts, I'm rather confused... I hear Elizabeth is 'hot hot hot', and there are all these new developments and population growing, and so much predicted growth etc etc and yet so many of you are saying it's too late to buy now, it's too expensive already! Which is it in the end? Is it too late or not? This is doing my head in
Hope someone can clear the mud a little...

 

[mystery]

Kam, ... I don't think people are saying Elizabeth is to expensive (or maybe the locals are), ... from memory a couple of people have noticed that Elizabeths northern area including Davoran Park and Smithfield have hit the $200k level through sheer demand.

What a couple of other SS members mentioned was that the Salisbury and surrounding suburbs (Paralowie, Parafield Gardens etc) seemed to have been overlooked and offered good buying and are much closer to the CBD.

I have two IP's in Elizabeth South and Vale, ..... The recent Vale purchase is an excellent house, close to all amenities and about 8-10km closer than many other Elizabeth suburbs and borders Salisbury where prices are more expensive and I paid a similar price or slightly less than outer Elizabeth suburbs I was looking at.

I think basically the general feeling is that Adelaide is in for some good growth over the coming years, so today a few people may say its expensive, but in 5 years time today's prices will be damn cheap as you have noticed as you compare today's prices with 12 months ago.

Martin ....

 

[steveadl]

Kam part of the reason for the conflicting sentiment on Elizabeth prices is the fact that when the thread was started, prices were lower, and since then, have run extremely hard in the last few months (eg. a house that sold for $140k in June, would now go for $180k+). You have to remember the very low base prices that the Eliz subrubs were coming from.

Now that the prices have run so hard, and are approaching $200k and above, some people feel you can get better buys closer to the CBD in suburbs such as Martin mentioned.

Don't get me wrong, I still think Elizabeth etc. will continue to rise, just as the rest of Adelaide does, but you have to pick what's right for you. Eliz suburbs are still the cheapest, but because of all the demand for property up there (from WA, NSW as well as locals), prices have been to the point that you can begin to see better value in other suburbs that haven't yet experienced the type of growth that has occured further North. Examples include Parafiles Gardens, Salisbury suburbs, Para Vista, Ingle Farm, Para Hills, Pooraka, Valley View etc.

So if your price range is still the $200k level or below, then you still have to look at Elizabeth's - although for how much longer I don't know as a lot of the new listings are now $200k+ (it'll take a month or so for prices to start filtering through to the stats). But for only say $50k more, you can get yourself a similar block (eg. big enough to sub divide) that's 10-15km closer to the CBD in the suburbs mentioned above. If in fact the houses up there do start to sell for the low to mid $200k bracket, then I do believe you can find better value further south since prices haven't run as hard - yet.

To answer your other questions. As far as seeing the place yourself and pest inspections etc. - that's something every investor has to decide for themselves. There's no point going into an investment you're not happy with from the start. Personally these things wouldn't bother me, I barely looked at 2 of my IP's up there before purchase, and haven't had pest inspections on any of them (not that I'm recommending you do this).

There are new smaller estates popping up in Davoren Park, Smithfield, Smithfield Plains etc. New larger scale projects in Munno Para West, Andrews Farm. Also starting to see stand alone small developments popping up all over, ie. corner blocks cut off, 1D2UP etc. You can also see the broader plans for the Playford district quite well in the link mmmggg put up a few posts ago.

So is it too late or not? No, but it depends on your indivdual criteria (price etc), the indivdual deal, and whether you can find better ones closer to the city for perhaps only a slightly higher price.

 

[steveadl]

December quarterly figures out. Elizabeth suburbs have officially cracked the $200k median. Congrats to those who got in early.

DAVOREN PARK 35 147,625 37 185,000 25.32%
ELIZABETH 1 175,000 3 170,000 -2.86%
ELIZABETH DOWNS 27 155,000 30 185,000 19.35%
ELIZABETH EAST 23 166,000 21 203,500 22.59%ELIZABETH GROVE 3 151,500 7 172,500 13.86%
ELIZABETH NORTH 8 157,000 14 190,000 21.02%
ELIZABETH PARK 19 163,975 26 188,500 14.96%
ELIZABETH SOUTH 6 140,000 12 206,500 47.50%ELIZABETH VALE 19 173,000 11 250,000 44.51%
SMITHFIELD 8 180,080 12 220,000 22.17%SMITHFIELD PLAINS 21 148,000 16 189,000 27.70%

(Median prices are often irrelevant, but still - nice to see )

 

[Bulldog]

Medians

Hey Steve

I stuck with Salisbury when I invested in the area - any Salisbury figures?

Dean

 

[mystery]

Hey Steve

I stuck with Salisbury when I invested in the area - any Salisbury figures?

Dean

SALISBURY + 25.64%
SALISBURY DOWNS + 15.71%
SALISBURY EAST + 11.21%
SALISBURY HEIGHTS + 17.23%
SALISBURY NORTH +18.46%
SALISBURY PARK +33.51%
SALISBURY PLAIN + 27.86%

Martin

 

[Bulldog]

Salisbury...

bammmmmm!!

Thanks Mystery. Isn't it funny - you always wish you had bought two!!

Aloha,

Bully.

 

[mystery]

bammmmmm!!

Thanks Mystery. Isn't it funny - you always wish you had bought two!!

Aloha,

Bully.

Bully

LOL ... yeah, ..... luckily I did buy two, .. one in Eliz South the other in Eliz Vale, .... both showing over 40% growth in the past 12 months, so I'm a very happy boy.

Still in your case... one IP is better than none at all, .. well done

Martin ....

 

[Prakman]

Go Elizabeth Go! It's great to see the prices heading in the right direction.

 

[PrimeCommercial]

Are these the type of properties that you'd suggest reflect growth potential?
1370m2 in East Elizabeth

To me it seems maybe a larger frontage may be on benefit

 

[steveadl]

Are these the type of properties that you'd suggest reflect growth potential?
1370m2 in East Elizabeth

To me it seems maybe a larger frontage may be on benefit

Shady - when looking for property in SA, quick tip: use www.realestate.com.au . Ther majority of agents use this, and anything on Domain will be on REA.com, but the reverse cannot be said.

Ordinarily this sort of land size would be great, but this block is quite awkward, so makes it less attractive (see pic attached). I think they're asking too much for it, and the market tends to agree - it's been listed since Feb at varying prices.

The sort of ideal block you'd look for would be on a corner with 900m2+ land so you can cut it into 3 down the track, but these aren't that easy to come by.

As far as frontage goes - Playford Council want 10m for detached dwellings, and 12.5m (from memory) if you want double garage on them. Less than 20m frontage you can still put a semi-detached pair up. But yes, as always - the more frontage the better.

 

[PrimeCommercial]

Thanks for that Steve. I didnt notice the block shape at all and can now see that its a very awkward shape to develop.

Did it say anywhere on RE.com that its been listed since Feb at different prices or have you seen the property before?

Cheers

 

[steveadl]

RP Data records listing history (I've deleted agency and agent name as it's the same in every listing - but it's another telling sign when you see a house has gone through multiple agents):

10/05/08 Normal Sale
$268,000 +

03/05/08 Normal Sale
$270,000+

25/04/08 Normal Sale
$200,000

19/04/08 Normal Sale
$272,000+

16/04/08 Normal Sale
$260,000

12/04/08 Normal Sale
$200,000

11/04/08 Normal Sale
$268,000 +

06/04/08 Normal Sale
$260,000

05/04/08 Normal Sale
$272,000+

28/03/08 Normal Sale
$220,000

15/03/08 Normal Sale
$200,000

01/03/08 Normal Sale
$200,000

27/02/08 Normal Sale
Mid - High $200,000's