All Topics / Help Needed! / How to find a target town/suburb to invest in.

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  • Profile photo of adrian078adrian078
    Participant
    @adrian078
    Join Date: 2006
    Post Count: 5

    Hi,

    I’m very new to property investing and was wondering peoples approaches to finding different towns/suburbs to invest in. How do you pick 2-3 towns/suburbs out of the thousands of possibilities?

    Do you research further after hearing things or do you use the median house prices or rental yield to narrow your search.

    Any help would be appreciated.

    Thanks [exhappy]

    p.s i tacked this on to the end of another post but it must have got overlooked.

    Profile photo of kcbworthkcbworth
    Member
    @kcbworth
    Join Date: 2007
    Post Count: 7

    That my friend is a great question, one that has been on the tip of my tongue for ages. I’d also love to hear peoples thoughts on this!

    Profile photo of adrian078adrian078
    Participant
    @adrian078
    Join Date: 2006
    Post Count: 5

    I’m glad others feel this way too.

    Seems property statistical data is rather limited in supply compared with shares.

    Profile photo of Stevo99Stevo99
    Member
    @stevo99
    Join Date: 2007
    Post Count: 2

    That is precisely the question on my lips. I am just looking for my first property now and am finding the stats hard to find also in NZ. Any Suggestions??

    Profile photo of salacioussalacious
    Member
    @salacious
    Join Date: 2003
    Post Count: 373

    Hi guys,

    I thought this article would help and i have included a link to the Somersoft forum on the bottom of the page about Melbourne property.

    Dom

    Hold onto property’ in 2007

    By Rosemary Desmond

    January 09, 2007 05:41pm
    Article from: AAP

    Font size: + –

    Send this article: Print Email

    UNCERTAINTY over interest rates could make 2007 a year to hold onto residential property in Australia, an online survey has found.
    But the outlook varied from one capital city to another, said property analyst Michael Matusik in the Matusik Property Insights annual outlook survey.

    Mr Matusik said people should hang onto their homes in Brisbane this year, but those in Perth or Hobart could find 2007 a good time to sell.

    Sydney and Melbourne would show some price rises after a two year slump.

    “Overall, 2007 looks like a year to hold residential property,” Mr Matusik said.

    “We believe 2007 will be largely a buyers’ market, offering cashed-up investors some very good long-term opportunities.”

    While other areas of the country were looking flat, Queensland’s market prospects were more buoyant, particularly inner Brisbane, Ipswich to the west and the Gold Coast-Tweed region.

    “Most respondents believe Brisbane’s middle ring – an area between 5km and 20km from the CBD will present strong opportunities, along with Ipswich and the Gold Coast-Tweed coastal strip,” Mr Matusik said.

    Mortgage broker AFG said three interest rate rises in 2006 and the fear of further rises in 2007 had prompted one in four mortgage holders in November to fix their rates.

    This was the highest figure ever recorded for this type of loan.

    Despite the rate hikes, Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) figures showed established house prices grew 9.5 per cent nationally over the 12 months to the end of September.

    Perth was the star performer, soaring 45.9 per cent while Sydney edged up a mere 1.4 per cent.

    Growth in new home prices was more subdued nationally at 2.6 per cent, less than the rate of inflation.

    But for long term property growth, there were still some real estate bargains around, a survey by Australian Property Investor magazine found.

    Rod Cornish of Macquarie Bank said Sydney still had the best opportunities in the long term and Melbourne buyers should look to fringe and bayside suburbs and the older “leafy” suburbs.

    Gavin Hegney of Hegney Property Group liked the coastal areas on the fringe of capital cities or within one or two hours’ drive but in the long term, Queensland and Western Australia were the best prospects.

    Simon Tennent of the Housing Industry Association (HIA) said Maitland and Lake Macquarie were good buying areas because the push out of Sydney northwards was likely to continue, while Sandra Peachy of valuers Herron Todd White said the Sydney suburb of Marrickville was good value.

    But “Reno King” Geoff Doidge said he was buying in Brisbane because of its population growth and major infrastructure changes.

    “I wouldn’t invest in an area that’s losing population, and I think that’s partly what’s happening in Sydney,” Mr Doidge said.

    http://www.somersoft.com/forums/showthread.php?t=28622%5Bbiggrin%5D%5Bbiggrin%5D

    Profile photo of bridgebuffbridgebuff
    Participant
    @bridgebuff
    Join Date: 2006
    Post Count: 189

    Good Article, but the main question is what are you after?

    If you are after capital growth, this article may give you a good idea.

    But if you are following Steve’s advise and look for cf+ properties, you have to find regional centres where you get better yield.

    While you cannot find too many properties that follow the good old 11 second rule, you have to look for properties with reasonable yields (about 8%) and improve them by subdividing or value adding.

    Whatever way you look at it, it is hard work. Pick a town and go onto the net.

    Homehound gives you some general statistics about % or renters, unemployment rate, etc.

    Check the average rental prices for a 3 BR house.

    Check the average sale price for a 3BR house.

    If the yield looks ok, keep digging and visit the area.

    Ask lots of questions and find out the general trend of the town (growing or declining), which are the good and the bad areas, etc.

    A point of warning. If you are new to this game, NEVER buy unseen. You are unlikely to know all the right questions that need to be asked.

    Good Luck.

    Profile photo of crispycrispy
    Participant
    @crispy
    Join Date: 2006
    Post Count: 8

    hi adrian078
    why dont you start looking around your own saburb/town sometimes thats the easiest way as u know how much property sales for, rents etc…[biggrin] thats how i started a few years ago, matter of fact still am, [biggrin] good luck

    Profile photo of AmandaBSAmandaBS
    Participant
    @amandabs
    Join Date: 2005
    Post Count: 549

    Hi Adrian,

    My advice is to start in your local area as it will be much easier to research, inspect and drive by any prospective properties, particularily if you have kids in tow!!

    Look for an area that is growing in population, is undergoing redevelopment, has a history of good capital growth, has good transport/shopping/other infrastructure, good industry/employment opportunites.

    Housing is a basic human need, so if the population is growing they need somewhere to live!!

    AmandaBS
    http://www.propertydivas.com.au
    FREE online Property Resources

    “It is better to be inconspicuously wealthy, than to be ostentatiously poor…”

    Profile photo of kjs_2kjs_2
    Member
    @kjs_2
    Join Date: 2004
    Post Count: 42

    Beware of regional cities/towns with dependance on one or two industries, unless those industries are stable or have good future prospects. While WA is booming, it may not if mining has a downturn??? (don’t know much about WA). Another example would be where there are military bases, and Govt policy can change, and there is downsizing. There could be some good bargains out there now with the drought and lack of water in some places, but who has the crystal ball to say things will pick up?

    Albury / Wodonga has had big capital growth and low vacancies, but how many people working on the bypass will be selling houses or vacating higher rent properties? They had an article about how the pokies turnover had increased last year by 20 something %, and they attributed a lot of that to the Abigroup workers. Maybe, but in times of trouble people gamble in the desperate hope they will change their luck. They usually do, it gets worse unfortunately. So the drought is a big factor in regional Australia, as well as the cities with current water crisises.

    I am also of the belief that a lot can be learnt from studying your local area, but has it got the best returns or capital growth? You do need to look further just to be sure. Don’t study for so long you never take action though!!![upsidedown]

    Best wishes to you![biggrin]

    kjs

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