What's wrong with Heidelberg in Melbourne?

K

khurram

I came a nice deal in Heidelberg recently.
It is a suburb 10.5KM from Melbourne CBD. It has everything going for it...but I cant see for the life of me why the median price is still sitting at $275K. Where as 2 mins down the road to Bulleen, its a totally different story...i.e a lot more expensive.
Down below to Eaglemenot and Ivanhoe you will be hard pressed to get anything below the $500K mark.
There are two hospitals (Austin and Mercy coming up) there is already another major hospital there. It has OK access to the freeway, there are cafes and resturant not far on Burgundy street, and major shopping cetres there are plenty....

What is missing??

Khurram
 
$$$$

and

people's perception.

Caveat - I don't know Vic at all, I'm just guessing. I've seen one suburb sit next to a very expenive one, and there's no reason for the difference. Happily the lower suburb usually catches up.

Jas
 
Possibly the fact that next to it is "West Heidelberg", home of the 1956 Olympic games village and somewhat of a seedy area (or used to be).

If the stats for West Heidelberg are included, this could well reduce the median price???
 
The REIV gives Heidelberg's median price as 398K, and that even includes West Heidelberg.

I think you might need some updated figures Khurram.

Ruby :)
 
Minimum price in West Heidelberg is now 250k plus. Used to be 70k 4 years ago. Alot of the old commision homes are being bulldozed, however the area is still full of riff raff. (Theve got to live somewhere).
 
Nothing wrong with Heidelberg as an investment or West Heidelberg for that matter but to compare them to Ivanhoe and Bulleen is like comparing sheep **** to chocolate creams.

West Heidelberg after the 56 Olympics turned into one of most violent and feral areas in Melbourne. Just ask any bouncer who was unfortunate enough to work in one the blood houses in the area.

Being 2003 those days are long gone but the memories and prejudices linger which maybe provides an opportunity for investment.

I would have no problem buying there and holding for five to ten years.

Cheers
 
Ivanhoe has:

The well regarded Grammar schools which attracts students from both sides of the river

The thriving shopping strip along Upper Helidelberg Road which holds a number of well regarded specialty shops

Ivanhoe station is an express station and within zone one. Heidelberg is situated around the Heildelberg and Rosanna stations and Rosanna is in zone two. This would make travel into the city much more expensive.

Ivanhoe has many stunning period homes revealing a long history of wealth in the area. Given the hilly nature of Ivanhoe many enjoy views including over the river and golfcourses.

Ivanhoe is seen as the "Camberwell" of the NE. The closer proximity to the city and stunning views would have been part of the reason the wealthy originally poured such money into the area.
 
PS

"I came a nice deal in Heidelberg recently."

I nice deal is a nice deal wherever it is situated. If there is money in it then it is a nice deal :eek:)
 
Hi Young Investor,

Someone told me recently that they thought Blackburn was undervalued in some areas. I have always thought of it as quite expensive given the distance from the CBD. As a resident, do you have any opinion on it? (I live in East Malvern).

Gail
 
I think the problem lies in people's perception of the area. I live a couple of suburbs away and Heidelberg is still known to many people around here as 'Heidel-burglary', thanks to West Heidelberg (where the old Olympic Village is - built in the '50's?? or so). This side of the suburb is filled with all sorts of run-down commission homes and sub-breadline residents - my tip would be to avoid this side of the suburb at all costs!!

Invest in Heidelberg for sure, but careful where you buy!
 
If the deal is good, then it's good. But you really can't compare Ivanhoe to West Heidelberg!! I'd more than happily live in the former for all the reasons other people have given, and definitely not in the latter, unless desperate. It's not attractive - many lowpriced ex Olympic homes, not large blocks, transport is poor, shopping ditto... been through the shopping centre mall off Bell Street? Poverty city, and the shops keep closing down.

Given that one component of property value is the attributes of surrounding properties... for prices to go up a lot you might have to wait until a lot more people buy up W Heidelberg properties and renovate them/develp them, etc.

I let go a good sized development site there because there just weren't enough comparative sales of townhouses/units to be able to get a handle on what they would fetch. Might be good (shortage of supply = demand), or might be bad (low demand = low price). I decided too risky.

Renovation & some development is starting to happen, and may well long term go up because of that proximity etc. Heidelberg is definitely close to the city, transport, etc and some parts are nice. But west...it's not as though many of the houses are really nice old period gems, say, like Preston/Coburg, etc. The Olympic things were 50s, brick, not attractive, built quickly to house athletes... and look like it. Long term hold... and need to have your judgment correct.
 
A buck is a buck.

Just did one in Sunshine . Who would have thought!
Owes me $245k with costs and reno. Re valued @$295k
REnt up by $60 pw to $230.
Now we sit and wait for the ripple effect to hit from Yarraville and Footscray.

NOTE: Iheld the same prejudice to certain areas a few years age when I could have bought in Yarraville for $100k.
Western suburbs? You must be joking.

Bottom line. Buy below value, don't over capitalise and you will do well.
If buying and holding, I stick to a 10km radius limit. Never forget the old principle of land scarcity. COMMISSIONS HOMES OF TODAY ARE TOMORROW'S MULTI UNIT SITES. Just look at Braybrook.

Cheers,
Sam.
 
13 kilometres actually. I bough one in 99 for 110k for a reno, rented it for a year and sold a year ago for 170k. Its hard to believe that the average dog box there is nearly 200k now. What concerns me is that the rental is the same as what they were selling for at 100k 3-4 years ago.
 
Well to all of you who mock Heidelberg, all I can say is - number 1 for capital growth in Melbourne in the most recent figures (March 2002 to March 2003) - 57%! Median price has risen from $260,000 to $409,000 - and from what I can see, that includes Heidelberg West and Heights as well as Central. I always thought it was way undervalued!

Cheers,

Chantal
 
Originally posted by Chantal
Well to all of you who mock Heidelberg, all I can say is - number 1 for capital growth in Melbourne in the most recent figures (March 2002 to March 2003) - 57%! Median price has risen from $260,000 to $409,000 - and from what I can see, that includes Heidelberg West and Heights as well as Central. I always thought it was way undervalued!
Click to expand...

That may be true, but let's not forget that a MEDIAN is a centre value in an ordered list of values. The median may well include Heidelberg West and Heights but I don't think that necessarily means Heidelberg West has gone up 57%.
 
Hi young investor,

Herald-Sun on Saturday 3rd May, page 13, announcing the release of the REIV March quarter figures released on 2nd May -"the biggest yearly increases were recorded in Heidelberg where prices rose 57.3% per cent to a median of $409,000."

According to the article, the median house price for Melbourne is now $347,000.

Please excuse my enthusiasm, its due to the fact that we bought a house in Heidelberg (central) around 2 years ago. The same house in the same street but on the other side of Banksia St (Eaglemont) would have been worth at least twice as much at the time. I'm not sure what the equation would be now.

Cheers,

Chantal
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Jake Milne
What's hot 2013 (Melbourne)
2
Replies
35
Views
14K
Jake Milne
Jake Milne
Jake Milne
Melbourne - HOTSPOTS
2
Replies
36
Views
9K
matto_
M
Shadow
Business Spectator - Analysis of Australian Property Market - Part 3
2 3
Replies
47
Views
10K
Petal
Petal
Back
Top