Whose suburb data is reliable? Anyone's?!

[Seymour]

Hi. I'm just getting started in IP and am trying to do basic research on a number of areas. I'm wondering whose data people use and find to be reliable. I have some concerns about a number of suburb reports available on the web.

For example if I look up Potts Point - which I know well - on RPData (http://reports.rpdata.com.au) I get some results that are clearly wildly inaccurate. For example, that single parents make up 58% of households. Given that you could round up all the children in the suburb and still not fill a school bus (and that probably close to 58% of Potts Points residents are gay) this seems very questionable. Also the statistic that the population of the suburb has declined by one fifth between 2001 and 2006.

When buying in areas you don't know, how can you make an informed decision if information is this far out?

Any tips greatly appreciated

 

[Propertunity]

Seymour,

All the data is reasonably reliable. The problem arises in how the various data collection agencies report on medians etc.
See this thread: http://www.somersoft.com/forums/showthread.php?p=617563

The suburb profile data you mention:
1. Probably comes from the ABS and is merely being presented by RP Data and others
2. 2006 is old data. The new data won't be available until a while after the next census is taken (where the ABS gets their raw data)

 

[forumite]

There is an article in The Age today that discussed the problem of using median house price:

http://www.theage.com.au/business/the-median-stripped-bare-20100131-n6kp.html

Last year was an exceptional one for property that, among other things, highlighted a problem with using median prices to measure the market.....

Monique Sasson Wakelin of Wakelin Property Advisory agrees quarterly medians can be misleading, even with the correctional methods some companies use....

 

[Seymour]

Seymour,

All the data is reasonably reliable. The problem arises in how the various data collection agencies report on medians etc.
See this thread: http://www.somersoft.com/forums/showthread.php?p=617563

The suburb profile data you mention:
1. Probably comes from the ABS and is merely being presented by RP Data and others
2. 2006 is old data. The new data won't be available until a while after the next census is taken (where the ABS gets their raw data)

But my point is that this data patently isn't reliable. Anyone with an ounce of common sense can see that 58% of households in Potts Point aren't Single Parent. In fact if you check the ABS stats they claim it's 6.2%, with 80.8% of households being childless couples.

Yes I understand that it's just data, it needs to be be put in context, and is just one piece of the puzzle - but one would expect it to be vaguely related to reality, otherwise why use it at all?

So my question remains: whose data is reliable? Or to rephrase, whose data do people use?

Thanks...

 

[WinstonWolfe]

make your own CURRENT data.

pick a couple of suburbs to track. then:
number of houses under $xxx, listed today compared to last month.
Days on market if not an auction.
Auction clearance (not so important for Brisbane).
Auction attendance.
OFI attendance.
REA ring you back index.
reno index (no. of houses renovated to a reasonable standard vs unrenovated)
intergenerational index (old vs young people at local shops.)
local precinct coffee shop index.
graffiti index
kids in the park on the weekend index.
friday night hoon index.

 

[Propertunity]

.................and don't forget the BPR

When the Bogan Penetration Ratio "BPR" is less than 35% you can choose to avoid them. When the BPR is say 60% you're at risk of class dilution

old quote from http://www.somersoft.com/forums/showthread.php?t=48520&page=2

 

[jacbmw]

make your own CURRENT data.

pick a couple of suburbs to track. then:
number of houses under $xxx, listed today compared to last month.
Days on market if not an auction.
Auction clearance (not so important for Brisbane).
Auction attendance.
OFI attendance.
REA ring you back index.
reno index (no. of houses renovated to a reasonable standard vs unrenovated)
intergenerational index (old vs young people at local shops.)
local precinct coffee shop index.
graffiti index
kids in the park on the weekend index.
friday night hoon index.

Mate, have to say this list is Gold!!! Is'nt it funny how such touchy feely intangibles like the number of coffee shops, or more particularly the specifics on the menu in the suburbs cafes can tell so much about the prestige factor or demographic of the residents...

I have made a point in Sydney in the 6 months I have lived her of visiting a different suburb every saturday morning for breaky... (ran out a while ago, but going back to favourites). You can tell so much about a suburb when you sit and chill on their main strip on a saturday morning!!!

 

[WinstonWolfe]

Mate, have to say this list is Gold!!! Is'nt it funny how such touchy feely intangibles like the number of coffee shops, or more particularly the specifics on the menu in the suburbs cafes can tell so much about the prestige factor or demographic of the residents...

I have made a point in Sydney in the 6 months I have lived her of visiting a different suburb every saturday morning for breaky... (ran out a while ago, but going back to favourites). You can tell so much about a suburb when you sit and chill on their main strip on a saturday morning!!!

dead right about the coffee in a precinct. just ask forumite AndrewA

if you can get good coffee in grundgey decor, then you want to buy quick.

if the hoon index is a tad high, it is probably too early

I like your style of having breaky in a different burb every weekend.
We're the same -> cycle around on Sats and try breaky somewhere different most weekends.
You learn a lot about a burb on a bicycle.