The hills district doesnt often get a price "correction"... prices tend to stay flatter for a while, and then pick up again.
Living in the hills myself - i cant say that im so sure things are going to slow down there. There are still eleventy billion buyer wanting to buy a home, and only about 5 houses listed to buy at any one time (gross exaggeration, but you get what i mean).
Prices have moved a bit in the last 12 months, but supply now is even more restricted than it was 12 months ago.
A new townhouse complex (about 15 townhouses) just down the road from me is now 100% sold, and it isnt even finished yet (still about 4-6 months off completion).
I personally think Baulkham Hills is very good value if you want to buy a house with land!
It is part of the well established Hills District (northwest) and classified as part of the northern suburbs by the annual SMH property investment guide.
It is lovely area with its own shopping centre, many nature reserves and good schools (Baulkham Hills High School was ranked the second top performing school for last year's HSC performance).
It is around 30km from Sydney CBD. It is probably the only suburb in the north (and east) within that radius to SYdney CBD where you can buy a standard house (3 bedroom, brick, at least 500sqm of land, car space) for $500k, eg:
http://www.homehound.com.au/36+meryll+avenue+baulkham+hills+nsw+2153/
For a property currently priced at around $500k, you should be able to rent it out for $400-$440. This is a reasonable rental return for house.
I agree with Sash there has been strong growth in the area over the last 10 months. But even in light of that growth, I think Baulkham Hills still represents good value for people looking to own a stand-alone house on land! From a long term perspective, there will be further growth! Think about how much people pay for a 2-3 bedroom unit these days and for a little more, you can get your hands on some land!
I heard about the Riverstone project. There will be about 15k new homes built in that area (please correct me if I'm wrong as I can't recall the figures). This should bring another 50k people into that area. Riverstone is further from the Sydney CBD than Baulkham Hills (it's 48km from city as per Google). I assume those new houses, say a 3 bedroom, will still sell for at least $450k.
Baulkham Hills being closer to city and more of an established suburb, represents a more desirable alterantive, in my view.
For these reasons, I think Baulkham Hills is good value even at current prices.
