Western side of Melbourne

[RightValue]

Lol @ some of the stupid posts in this thread.

Do people think they portray themselves to be rich just because they 'don't venture out west', that's funny.. Get over yourselves.

Multi million dollar properties in CS, Hillside, Taylors Lakes, Keilor etc come up all the time and some of the lowly scum poor people in the west are actually more than happy to buy them and live in them, in fact they sell quite quickly, more so than some in 'desirable' eastern suburbs.

Couple of examples:

http://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-vic-caroline+springs-110994735
http://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-vic-keilor-111604059

Don't get me wrong, I like the West, I live there and invest there and Value property there and have done so for over a decade. But it is the home to many overcapitalised properties and asking prices are no indication of value in that segment of the market.


There has not been a sale over $1m in CS of a residential dwelling. There have been a couple over $900k, less than 5 from memory.

Yes there are some Hillside sales over $1m, but they are rare and are entirely limited to the sugar gum estate, generally on 1 1/2 acre sites.

Taylors Lakes has about 1 a year over $1m, usually on 2000sqm with very substantial improvements,almost none would have sold for the current cost of land and construction.

Yes Keilor has some $1M plus sales and does support that price range.

You forgot to mention the Valley Lakes estate in Keilor East where there has been one or two $1m plus sales.

Unfortunately one or two high sales of overcapitalised properties does not make a million dollar suburb.

You also said that properties in CS have doubled in the last 4-5 years, well that is just plain wrong. I can show you many resales of properties over that period and they have not doubled. In fact CS is trading lower than mid 2010 an in some cases close to what they sold for in 2009 or earlier, those overcapitalised/high value properties have shown significantly lower growth than the majority of the houses closer to the median.

Just for the record I would have done over 1,000 valuations in CS since 2001 and the number of properties is only around 6,500 households in the suburb.

 

[el caballo]

Short term, I think anyone chasing CG anywhere in Melbourne let alone in new estates needs their head examined. Long term, I think the west is a decent bet.

As laughable as upper end housing in the west may seem, there will be more and more high income households in the west and, believe it or not, not all of these will be scurrying to cross the Westgate tossing a lit match behind them. As it stands, the only real ‘prestige suburb’ in the west is Williamstown. Over time, other areas in the west will need to cater for the high income demographic.

There are some of the reasons why I believe there will more high income earners in the west:

As the west’s population explodes, there will be more ‘success stories’ coming out of the west and many will want to stay in the area they grew up in.

Our class system is more fluid than in previous generations. Growing up in the west doesn’t = <insert stereotype>.

Class itself is becoming more redundant. Some blue collar jobs pay better than occupations requiring a degree and a tradesperson can become positively wealthy if they own a successful business.

Many young couples who bought in the west due to affordability issues will choose to remain in the west as their careers progress. I actually know quite a few couples who moved to the west earlier in their careers and are now high income earners but remain in the west because it’s now ‘home’ and, gasp, they actually like it.

Immigrants from China/India/etc. aren’t so snooty about the west. Many are solid income earners and, though they’re not the ‘Balwyn immigrant’, their children are liable to overachieve, meaning more doctors, engineers, accountants, etc. will be from the west. Many will choose to stay.

As the inner west becomes more trendy, more people will choose to move to the west, creating a ripple effect.

…

On a more negative note, my biggest concern about the west is infrastructure. The west’s infrastructure cannot keep up with the ever-increasing population and I have so little faith in the state government rectifying this. You cannot build endless new suburbs without providing public transport, roads, schools, hospitals, etc. and expect the already swamped established suburbs to absorb the increased demand. Our government will keep making meaningless promises and selling land to developers who have no long term interest in their poorly planned suburbs.

Fifth,

Top quality post! Enjoyed reading your reasoning.

Cheers,
Greg

 

[MC1]

Don't get me wrong, I like the West, I live there and invest there and Value property there and have done so for over a decade. But it is the home to many overcapitalised properties and asking prices are no indication of value in that segment of the market.


There has not been a sale over $1m in CS of a residential dwelling. There have been a couple over $900k, less than 5 from memory.

Yes there are some Hillside sales over $1m, but they are rare and are entirely limited to the sugar gum estate, generally on 1 1/2 acre sites.

Taylors Lakes has about 1 a year over $1m, usually on 2000sqm with very substantial improvements,almost none would have sold for the current cost of land and construction.

Yes Keilor has some $1M plus sales and does support that price range.

You forgot to mention the Valley Lakes estate in Keilor East where there has been one or two $1m plus sales.

Unfortunately one or two high sales of overcapitalised properties does not make a million dollar suburb.

You also said that properties in CS have doubled in the last 4-5 years, well that is just plain wrong. I can show you many resales of properties over that period and they have not doubled. In fact CS is trading lower than mid 2010 an in some cases close to what they sold for in 2009 or earlier, those overcapitalised/high value properties have shown significantly lower growth than the majority of the houses closer to the median.

Just for the record I would have done over 1,000 valuations in CS since 2001 and the number of properties is only around 6,500 households in the suburb.

There has been a sale in CS of $1.2m. It was a while back, but its there. Being a valuer you should know this. It has even shown up as a comparable on vals for the firm that does most of the valuations in CS

 

[MC1]

Also i dont think people here are calling these suburbs million dollar suburbs

 

[BFT]

Don't get me wrong, I like the West, I live there and invest there and Value property there and have done so for over a decade. But it is the home to many overcapitalised properties and asking prices are no indication of value in that segment of the market.


There has not been a sale over $1m in CS of a residential dwelling. There have been a couple over $900k, less than 5 from memory.

Yes there are some Hillside sales over $1m, but they are rare and are entirely limited to the sugar gum estate, generally on 1 1/2 acre sites.

Taylors Lakes has about 1 a year over $1m, usually on 2000sqm with very substantial improvements,almost none would have sold for the current cost of land and construction.

Yes Keilor has some $1M plus sales and does support that price range.

You forgot to mention the Valley Lakes estate in Keilor East where there has been one or two $1m plus sales.

Unfortunately one or two high sales of overcapitalised properties does not make a million dollar suburb.

You also said that properties in CS have doubled in the last 4-5 years, well that is just plain wrong. I can show you many resales of properties over that period and they have not doubled. In fact CS is trading lower than mid 2010 an in some cases close to what they sold for in 2009 or earlier, those overcapitalised/high value properties have shown significantly lower growth than the majority of the houses closer to the median.

Just for the record I would have done over 1,000 valuations in CS since 2001 and the number of properties is only around 6,500 households in the suburb.

You're missing the point of my post, I was merely proving to the haters that the 'Werribee Mansion is not the only Million dollar property in the west' which of course I am aware they already knew but wouldn't admit because they are too rich to venture out to the filthy west/north.

Also i didn't say doubled, i said 'near doubled' and i didn't make this up, Residex did (see attached report). I have lived in CS since 2009, two houses on my street (of size similar to mine) have sold for $600k plus recently, my house cost me $385k to build three years ago (including land), seems like a decent gain to me.

And by the way, infrastructure is great, I walk my kids to schools, child care and kinder, walk to the shops, walk to the bus stop and the train station is a 10 minutes drive away. And if I need to drive to the city I'm there in 20-25 minutes, less than many overpriced Eastern Suburbs. Only thing missing in CS is its own train station and hospital (there is a pet hospital though) but I have three hospitals that are 20-30 minutes away so can't complain too much.

 

[BFT]

Also I find it hilarious that people think anything in the east is gold just because its in the east. I went to Pakenham the other day SEVENTY kms away from CBD, made CS look like an inner suburb being 21 kms away from CBD. Extreme example I know but could probably be applied to anything past Glen Waverley.

Travel seventy kms west and you would end up near Ballarat

 

[RightValue]

There has been a sale in CS of $1.2m. It was a while back, but its there. Being a valuer you should know this. It has even shown up as a comparable on vals for the firm that does most of the valuations in CS

what is the address?

I have just dome an RPData search going back 10 years and they only show 2 sales of residential dwellings over $900k.

There was a sale negotiated about 4 years ago that I am aware of that was around that figure but it failed to settle, so was not a sale

 

[RightValue]

Also I find it hilarious that people think anything in the east is gold just because its in the east. I went to Pakenham the other day SEVENTY kms away from CBD, made CS look like an inner suburb being 21 kms away from CBD. Extreme example I know but could probably be applied to anything past Glen Waverley.

Travel seventy kms west and you would end up near Ballarat

I agree with you on this and think that the west has far better value than the outer east.

I also agree that people in the East dis the West unreasonably.

However I think that the infrastructure sucks big time in the West.

The problem is that it is a safe Labor area and they do not need to spend money to garner votes. the Liberals will not spend money as it will not win them votes due to it being such a safe Labor area.

 

[BFT]

Construction did commence on the train station site at CS but stopped for some reason. Maybe the new state government canned the project or at least delayed it.

 

[vramu1]

Any one bought or have experiences on property investment in Plumpton-Vic?

 

[Peter Parker]

Also I find it hilarious that people think anything in the east is gold just because its in the east. I went to Pakenham the other day SEVENTY kms away from CBD, made CS look like an inner suburb being 21 kms away from CBD. Extreme example I know but could probably be applied to anything past Glen Waverley.

Pakenham's nearer to 55km from the CBD.

While Melbourne is lopsided and it's a longer distance from the outer east than the outer west to the CBD, bear in mind that the majority of employment is in the suburbs - not the CBD area.

And the east has much larger suburban hospitals, TAFE and uni campuses (especially in the Box Hill and Clayton areas) than the west, making CBD commuting less relevant. VU has nowhere near the prestige of Monash Uni for example. And its main campuses are nearer the CBD than Monash Clayton for example.

If the Werribee East area takes off then that will redress the balance, but at the moment the west's employment base is heavily manufacturing (declining) or transport/storage jobs in industrial areas. Plus local jobs eg in shops etc.

There was a huge building boom where suburban universities (eg Monash) were established in the '60s, but since then universities have pulled out of the outer suburbs - eg VU closing Melton and Sunbury and Swinburne closing Lilydale. Despite the former two having population growth.

 

[Teshy]

Any one bought or have experiences on property investment in Plumpton-Vic?

Are you buying house & land package? Any particular reason why you chose this suburb? I know few people who live in and around Plumpton. As an investor I wouldn't invest there because there's plenty of vacant land and almost zero public transport.

 

[vramu1]

Thanks Teshy. H&L package seems interesting and can get with in $350K for 3BR and rental return seems around $350+PW. But I'm from different state so, don't know any think about those suburbs. Planning to visit some of these suburbs in couple of weeks time to have a look and make decisions. My budget for H&L package is around $350-$400K. Do you suggest any suburbs? where I can get good Capital Growth in future?

 

[Teshy]

Thanks Teshy. H&L package seems interesting and can get with in $350K for 3BR and rental return seems around $350+PW. But I'm from different state so, don't know any think about those suburbs. Planning to visit some of these suburbs in couple of weeks time to have a look and make decisions. My budget for H&L package is around $350-$400K. Do you suggest any suburbs? where I can get good Capital Growth in future?

Any reason why you want to buy H&L and not an existing property? With your budget (and if you are happy to buy existing property) I would stick to Sunshine/Albion area. There are plenty of post here on these areas.