Inner Suburbs of Melbourne

[timmyboy]

Is anyone familiar with or has bought in the inner to middle ring of suburban Melbourne recently?
I'm looking at Footscray, based entirely (at this stage) on newspaper, magazine and internet reports. However, I have also received some word of mouth reports that Footscray is a none too desireable suburb.
I would like some on the ground feedback from anyone either familiar with or living in the area. With the changes and growth Kensington, Seddon and Yarraville have experienced over the last few years, would Footscray not be likely to be next? Or would you be better off investing in say, Kensington, now and taking less capital growth in exchange for established reputation/security?

Cheers

Tim

 

[Banked]

Footscray is overpriced at the moment IMO. Was looking at buying there 3-4 months ago but competition become rediculous. Unrenovated 1.5 bedroom houses in average areas were selling at auction for over $400,000.
Seddon is a little more expensive but much better value.

 

[ozi]

Hi Tim,

I have been looking around Footscray for some time now and know the area like the back of my head Don't believe everything you hear. Footscray has already experienced some good growth over the past 6-12 months. Somewhere along the lines of 15-20%. It is still cheaper than areas like Kensington, Seddon and Yarraville and to be honest, a lot of the people wanting to buy in these areas can no longer afford to! They are now realising that Footscray is just down the road and not so bad after all. Footscray still has some bad areas and faces issues such as drugs and crime, but this is slowly getting wiped out. There aren't many properties for sale at the moment and the ones that do come on the market fetch a premium. I'm afraid finding a bargain will be close to impossible. Having said that, I do believe it has huge potential and should experience good growth in the years to come.

Good luck.

Ozi

 

[ozi]

Footscray is overpriced at the moment IMO. Was looking at buying there 3-4 months ago but competition become rediculous. Unrenovated 1.5 bedroom houses in average areas were selling at auction for over $400,000.
Seddon is a little more expensive but much better value.

I agree! Competition is fierce at the moment. Agents are loving it. grrr

Ozi

 

[jazzlobber]

i agree, i think for its position and proximity to the CBD its still good value for money. one for the medium to long term i think, hopefully the drugs and other issues will get cleaned up and start to make it more popular. I was scared at the market though, it needs a good scrubbing.

 

[DavidMc]

Footscray still has some bad areas and faces issues such as drugs and crime, but this is slowly getting wiped out.

My girlfriend works for Metlink counting passengers. She dreads whenever she is asked to work at Footscray. Plenty of scary stories. She even saw a Mother/Daughter drug deal the other day!

 

[timmyboy]

Cheers for the replies folks - it adds food for thought when you get the opinions of people actually in the area.
Any feedback on what the rental market/returns are like?
What sort of tenant market mainly exists in the area eg: young couples? families? singles working in the city?

Thanks

Tim

 

[redbox]

i've heard that Foostscray is undergoing some gentrification - which is good news. What parts of Footscray though should be avoided - i presume that some areas are worse than others