Port Pirie anyone?

[Jayro]

G'day all,

Well plan is to buy our 2nd IP in Jan/Feb 2008. Just looking for a cheapy this time around and one that has potential for CG and doesnt cost me too much per wk out of pocket. Have liked Port Pirie in SA for a while now and was just wondering if anyone here has property down there or can shed any additional info about the area?

On a sperate note what vacancy rate would be acceptable for an area? The R/E agent mentioned there is good demand for good rental property etc etc and said there vacancy rate at present in there office is at 4%. Any thoughts as im not sure if this figure is "normal" or high, low etc???

Thanks in advance
Jayro

 

[Bushy]

I know some people in Pirie, Its main industry is the Pasminco smelters which continually becomes more efficient. Prices have gone thru the roof considering what they were 4yrs ago. 60k now 220k. I think lots of Roxby workers might be using Pirie as a base for family. If I was going to invest in the area I would be looking at Napperby- small acreages
Regards Bushy

 

[Bazza]

Hi Jayro,

Don't know much about Port Pirie only that it's near Porta Gutta.

Natiomal vacancy rates are currently 1.9% and I know here in SE Qld it's about 1%. So, 4% is a bit high for my liking.

Cheers,

Bazza

 

[Jayro]

ok thanks for the replies. I also thought from what Iv read that 4% was rather high, hence why I asked the question as I did have a little concern over it. im not too sure about heading away from main cities so im still looking at this stage and doing some more research. May look at spending a little more and sticking to better quality areas.

Jayro

 

[RumpledElf]

G'day all,
Have liked Port Pirie in SA for a while now and was just wondering if anyone here has property down there or can shed any additional info about the area?

I live near Port Pirie and if I had more money to throw around I'd get an IP there. Since I don't, I just look at prices and get annoyed that you can't buy anything for under $20k like you used to be able to back in 2004.

The pricing in Pirie is really quite odd, where I live (90km from Pirie) average prices have shot up from about 40k each to 200k each in 3 or 4 years, Jamestown (60km from Pirie) has flown up to 300-500k but then look to the other side of the RE window and Port Pirie prices have been stuck at around 100-150k for ages, which I find bizarre. Why would a city of 12,000 people be so much cheaper than a town of 1300 people? When I moved here, it was MUCH cheaper here than Port Pirie. So unless Pirie is about to absolutely skyrocket in price to match the prices of the tiny little towns 100km down the road, or the prices of the tiny little towns are massively overvalued and are about to burst, there's something wrong here.

The adverts on TV all claim that Pirie is a teeming and growing metropolis of wondrousness, FWIW. The town does have everything you could possibly want and certainly has a lot of housing that could be positively geared if you find a very cheap house. But remember that rents there are low. Very low. $80-120 a week at the low end, and not much more at the high end. And you'd be quite likely to be renting to riffraff who can't afford a house in Adelaide anymore.

 

[THEHEATH]

Why would a city of 12,000 people be so much cheaper than a town of 1300 people? When I moved here, it was MUCH cheaper here than Port Pirie. So unless Pirie is about to absolutely skyrocket in price to match the prices of the tiny little towns 100km down the road, or the prices of the tiny little towns are massively overvalued and are about to burst, there's something wrong here.

Because 12,000 people= more supply/competition? But I don't know enough about the areas you are talking about.

 

[Gools]

This topic is about the funniest I have ever seen.

Nothing like having the worlds largest lead smelter in a town to attract buyers!!

 

[RumpledElf]

Because 12,000 people= more supply/competition? But I don't know enough about the areas you are talking about.

12,000 people means jobs, services, utilities. 1300 people means limited services, limited or no jobs. SA has a very sparse population. You'd think people would pay to live somewhere there *is* something and there wouldn't be a premium attached to living in a very small town - rural areas are traditionally cheap. The supply is actually much higher in these very small towns, especially the ones where the population is falling.

I think the post after yours summed it up though. There's a sodding great lead smelter in the middle of the town doing its best to keep prices down and blood lead levels up!

 

[natmarie73]

This topic is about the funniest I have ever seen.

Nothing like having the worlds largest lead smelter in a town to attract buyers!!

Exactly the first thing that came to mind when I saw this thread, although a lead smelter doesn't seem to have affected Mt Isa prices at all. I have done a small amount of research on Port Pirie as I have applied for a grad program with Nyrstar who now own the smelter - if I get it I would have to live there for 12 months on a rotation. The town seems to have a bit going for it - a mixture of industry and tourism much like Gladstone where I grew up. It is near the ocean, which is a bonus, and not far from the Flinders Ranges, wine growing areas etc. Don't know if I would buy a property there though.

 

[Suraj]

Investing in Elizabeth area in SA

Hi any one has property in Elizabeth area in SA? I have been keep looking the area since 2005 when the 3bdr semi would cost 105K. Now the same house cost arround 180 k. I missed the boat. However the suburb arround Elizabeth still look cheaper and a lot of talk about growth in that area. Any body has any idea about the area? Pls advise me. Thank you very much

Suraj/Sydney

 

[Gools]

Hi Suraj,

I suggest that, for $180k for a semi, some care needs to be taken with selecting the exact location and that defining a value for the whole of Elizabeth and surrounds is just not accurate enough.

A choice needs to be made. I would find buying a house on 1300sqm for $240k to be much more appealing.

Maybe post a few examples of specific properties you are looking at, that way we can be more specific.

Gools

 

[RumpledElf]

Elizabeth and surrounds, as a general rule, aren't good. Very high unemployment. You get the odd good spot here and there, but you'd actually have to visit and see how many burnt out car bodies etc are in the street. The area has kinda got more expensive than it should be lately.

 

[Gools]

You get the odd good spot here and there

Rumpled, I don't believe that part of your statement is correct. I think it is more "You get the odd bad spot here and there".
You may think differently but I think you are using a sterotype that just isn't correct anymore. There are some really good parts of the Elizabeth area.

Gools

 

[RumpledElf]

Well, its been 2 years since I lived in Adelaide now (I used to work in Elizabeth for ages) so things might have changed.

Where's the riffraff moved to? Pirie?

 

[Gools]

Where's the riffraff moved to? Pirie?

On the news this morning there was a burnt out car at Clearview!

 

[steveadl]

Elizabeth and surrounds, as a general rule, aren't good. Very high unemployment. You get the odd good spot here and there, but you'd actually have to visit and see how many burnt out car bodies etc are in the street. The area has kinda got more expensive than it should be lately.

Agree with Gools here, I've driven around Elizabeth, Davoren Park et al extensively and have yet to see any burnt out cars etc.

The area is still heavily welfared, but doesn't mean you can't buy good IP's up there. We've got 4 in the area. The newer estates are actually quite nice, and the type of tenant is quite different too.

The worst spot would still be the Western side of DP, but even that has experienced good price growth, after all - you'r investing there, not living there. This will also change once new houses get built to the west of DP as well.

 

[steveadl]

On the news this morning there was a burnt out car at Clearview!

Bugger, that's where we are now! Wasn't me, I swear!

 

[RumpledElf]

I lived in Elizabeth for a year, right near the Elizabeth South train station. There'd be a burnt out car there every week. Since I was walking through there twice a day it was easy to keep track. Council (or someone) would clean them up very fast, usually before lunchtime on the day they appeared. This was 2003 ...

 

[weg]

I lived in Elizabeth for a year, right near the Elizabeth South train station. There'd be a burnt out car there every week. Since I was walking through there twice a day it was easy to keep track. Council (or someone) would clean them up very fast, usually before lunchtime on the day they appeared. This was 2003 ...

I think the more isolated train stations are fairly nortorious for torching cars regardless of the suburb. Look at Elizabeth and Smithfield train stations and you will be hard pressed finding tourched cars there. Devon Park only a few km's from the CBD is another of these dumping spots - my own car was stolen and found there torched.

I'm with steveadel on the Northern suburbs and I believe over the next few years we will see significant bulldozing of the more uglier spots. This is certainly the plan for Smithfield Plains and parts of Davoren Park.

 

[Darren1968]

Port Pirie and ELizabeth

Well I grew up in Port Pirie and it was a great place to grow up in.

I still like the place and have considered buying there myself as an investment.

You do need to pick and chose your area but that is no different to any city anywhere.

I have my PPOR in Elizabeth South and it is a very quiet and nice area although the other part of Elizabeth South (over near the train station) is absolutely shocking.

The streets are covered in burnout marks and the houses (housing trust semi's) and in very poor condition with crap all over the front yards etc.

I am currently building an IP in the new estate of Playford Waters at Smithfield and I am quite happy with that area but five minutes drive away is a different story.

As a whole I think the northern suburbs of Adelaide are absolutely fine.

Ten years ago when I moved to Adelaide it was suburbs such as Rosewater, Blair Athol, Taperoo, Regency Park, Seaton, Fulham and Royal Park that had the bad reputation.

Look at those suburbs now. They are booming and are the current real estate hot spots in Adelaide.

The northern suburbs are really coming into their own now and with the planned redevelopment of many of the crappier areas it is only going to get better.