Melton Vic.

Suraj,
There was an article in the Sunday Herald Sun just past where the focus was on the record increase in Melbourne.
Melton was one of a handful of places that went down in value over 12 months. It didn't differentiate between areas within Melton. From memory the price quoted dropped from 265 to 238K.
I rarely take notice of the media hype but if there is even the slightest truth in this article I see it as a really good opportunity to get into this area. It is a longer term proposition but pressure from increases in other areas will spill into Melton.
As has been alluded by other forumites, this is a lower social-economic area and takes good management (some of which is severly lacking and highlighted on this board). I had to sack a PM (whose initials start with a "J" last year and went four figures down) so it probably hasn't been kind to me.
Most of my other IPs went up so I am now starting to look again.
 
I was recently in Melton on a weekend trip for the tennis and I was encouraged by the new infrastructure going on down there.

The new freeway is superb, race track is done, new shops moving in, took us around 40mins from central Melbourne and the area is defiantly growing. Going back to the point of bad tenants and bad PM's i had both when i first bought in South Melton. My PM is Ken Jones of Elders, does a very good job i must say.

There are always figures being banded around about prices but from what i can tell my property in South Melton has around 8% growth but you never know the true value until you come to sell.

In summary it has the right ingredients for strong growth in future years but whether this is acheived time will tell all. Hope us Melton investors are right
 
On PMs I use Barry Plant, and prior to thier employment of Damian a year back, I was ready to sack.

Now they have Damian, an outsider to melton, they have gone from very poor to very good.

FYI if you are thinking of changing or shopping around.

Peter 14.7
 
hey everyone

Just wondering if you think it is still worth investing in Melton ? We were so close about a year ago to buy there but decided on a 2BR unit in Ashfield, NSW.

Are there still bargains around Melton or have we missed the boat ?
 
Billy B - at the present time, think your rental returns will be better with a 2 bedder in Western / South Western Sydney.

Don't think you can get much of a house in Melton at $200k, those bargains flew out the door in 2007, I reckon, when this thread was started.
 
Suraj,
There was an article in the Sunday Herald Sun just past where the focus was on the record increase in Melbourne.
Melton was one of a handful of places that went down in value over 12 months. It didn't differentiate between areas within Melton. From memory the price quoted dropped from 265 to 238K.

I don't know where these so called reporters get there info, but there is no way Melton lost ground in 2009, ..... I would say our IP's grew 15%-20% in the last 18 months. We own 2 IP's in Melton Central.

Martin
 
I can second that.....in early 2009 you could have comfortably bought properties for 190k.....now you have to pay at least 220k for something decent!:D

These reporters need to get off the drugs.:p The primary reason why Melton has gone up is because land there is now about 110k, up from 75-80k in 2007.

I don't know where these so called reporters get there info, but there is no way Melton lost ground in 2009, ..... I would say our IP's grew 15%-20% in the last 18 months. We own 2 IP's in Melton Central.

Martin
 
has anyone used Barry Plant Melton as their property manager? How;s their performance compared to others like Sweeneys and Stockdale Leggo?
 
I have not used them sorry but do not always go by the company that deals with the property, it is all down to the individual agent.

When i bought my place in Melton South i had a good sales guy and then a good enough PM but she went away on maternity leave and they stuck a rookie in charge, had a bad tenant at the time so it just went pear shaped.

My point is that if you get the right individual stick with them where ever they go.

Ian
 
I don't know where these so called reporters get there info, but there is no way Melton lost ground in 2009, ..... I would say our IP's grew 15%-20% in the last 18 months. We own 2 IP's in Melton Central.

Martin

Median Price!

Weekedns Sun Herals has some suburbs doing 73% in a quarter!

My PPOR was reported as 27% in a quarter. Tell them thier dreaming! Peter
 
Any opinions on the following, 4/2/2 townhouses, $275K, two let at $260, two vacant - looks like the one being advertised at $285 - if I pursued this I'd probably go for the already-let one and look to up the rent in due course,

Buy: http://www.domain.com.au/Property/For-Sale/Townhouse/VIC/Melton/?adid=2007594801

Let: http://www.domain.com.au/Property/For-Rent/Townhouse/VIC/Melton/?adid=6456597

By comparison, same money same area, http://www.domain.com.au/Property/For-Sale/House/VIC/Melton/?adid=2008161321 is a single storey 4/1/2 on a 600m2 block, but if you're never going to redevelop (which I almost certainly wouldn't) then the large block might just be seen as a negative by a prospective tenant?

These prices are more or less what I'm looking to pay, I'm attracted by the potential of the regional rail improvement and I want a no-fuss long term hold investment that will just deliver a steadily increasing income. I've yet to visit Melton but would be grateful for any feedback from those who know it.

T.
 
Tony3008,

It looks like you live in Docklands. Why not take a drive out and have a look over a couple of weekends, ..... You have the advantage over a lot of people by living a short-ish drive away.

On your selection of Ip's above, .... personally I would go for the house, .... I don't like body corp costs which you would probably have with the townhouse, .... the house has been very nicely renovated and should attract quality tenants. Plus with the reno work you would still be able to make some depreciation claim.

In regards to you never wanting to develop a house site, .. that's fine, but what about if you want to sell at some point in the future .. whoever buy's might want to. Plus a large percentage of the rental market still want a backyard for the kids.

Anyway .... it doesn't really matter which way you go .. it's what you are comfortable with in the end as it's your money (well, probably a lot of the banks as well ... :p).

Good luck

Martin
 
Thanks for the feedback. Yes, I will be taking a trip over there before long but am trying to narrow down my options before doing so. My one doubt about the house is that it only has one bathroom, whilst nearly all the 4-bedders available to let have two. I take your point that a large plot may well enhance the resale at some future point, even if that's not in my current plan.

T.
 
We have just returned from a visit to Melton and thought we'd post our findings.

It is just over 4 years since we last visited Melton (January 2006). So much development is happening that it seems like it has doubled in overall size .... it has exploded.

The new housing and industrial estates have grown so much it blew us away. One example is Melton West ..... we remember where the housing estate boundaries were when we were last there .... it now stretches 5 km further west and is jam packed with new housing .... We are talking thousands of new homes. It won't be many more years and the town of Bacchus Marsh will be an outer suburb of Melton.

Add to this the huge developments North (Kurunjang) of the CBD and also inner suburb vacant land south of High Street is now chock full of quality housing estates. You also have the industrial areas growing as the population increases as well. South Melton is also starting to see some development movement.

The only crappy looking new development is the huge over 55 retirement village, .... it is basically a transportable home village. It is positioned just south of the main Shopping Centre. It just doesn't fit in.

The town looks great and is clean, modern and has a very progressive council who are pro-development. The new bypass makes the journey to Melbourne CBD very easy and pretty much hassle free (it was 10am when we drove in and took less than half an hour).

Melton will always have its detractors on SS who focus on its past housing commission stigma and while I admit there is still some d---heads who live there it seems to be changing for the better. As more people move into the area it should just get better as more first home buyers and owner occupiers move out west.

Anyway ..... this is just for those who haven't visited for a while.

Martin
 
i have a friend who is developing in melton south and he said that things have been going smooth with the council which is a positive sign.

I worked in melton for a month and got to know the area a little better, prices are slowly climbing but what puts me off is that there are so many new developments comming up so there is a lot of supply.

But its bound to be a winner long term, i also have a friend who has a business in melton and is very happy with it so all positive signs and still very affordable.
 
Melbourne/Victoria has a housing shortage, is there really any surprise that where there has been deveopment previously (outer suburbs) that there would be more?

Only trying to think logically.
 
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Melbourne/Victoria has a housing shortage, is there really any surprise that where there has been deveopment previously (outer suburbs) that there would be more?

Only trying to think logically.

I think you missed my point Donners. Of course we were aware that there is ongoing new development in the area, but what took us by surprise was the sheer volume of new buildings and new housing estates since our last visit (we live interstate).

We do read newpapers and realise that the media quote housing shortages around the country. We also keep a close eye on where each of our IP's is situated (We would like to think we've learned something since buying our fist IP in 1986), but it was our personal viewing experience that excited us. It was this that we were trying to share via our previous post.

I will try to be less subtle next time to alleviate any confusion and add logical thinking to my "must learn" list.

Martin
 
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