Flat closer to CBD or house in outer suburbs of Melbourne?

Hi Zayne,

Over the long term (last 30 years), properties have performed in most major capital cities as per below:

–         8-10% Units

–         10-12% Houses

Yes, a house will hopefully have more capital appreciation due to the land content, however a unit will be less expensive to hold. So you should consider in your purchase decision, cost vs capital gain.

I am a bit of a Bernard Salt fan (the demographic guru), he makes a very interesting point in his last article on the API magazine. He talks about Gen Y and the new trends in living, etc, the point he makes is that in the future houses in suburbia may not be so appealing due to:

–         More single people will be the predominant household type.

–         Gen Y vs Baby Boomers (city living vs Suburbia)

–         Maintenance issues, like mowing the lawns, etc, etc.

There will always be demand for suburbia, however “For The Times They Are A Changing” (Bob Dylan)

Happy investing

you will need to move quickly if you want to retain the option to buy something close in (assuming the price range you infer is your limit).  We recently completed a purchase in Thornbury and the rate of movement we saw in 3 months of searching was alarming.  We have some places in outer Melbourne also and they continue to grow steadily but nothing spectacular,  with the exception of Frankston which seems to be quite good (for us at least, I hear variable reports/experiences in the area).  With all the pressures/trends people describe above and gross population trends in Melbourne , the inner ring would have to be favoured….but its only my opinion.