VIC Ballarat picking up ??

The article is talking about the effects of the doubling of the FHOG for regional Victoria from July 1st, 2017 along with the stamp duty cuts. Guess it depends on your definition of recent.

 

Purchased our first IP and chose the rat. Went through a property management company and were really comfortable with all the info they were giving us on the rat.

Purchased a 3 bedroom 1920s weatherboard Reno’d in 2000s in Ballarat east. Really happy with the location. For 351000

Current renters are in until April 2019 at 280 pw. Will rise to 300 pw . Managed to secure it prior to an open house signed papers morning of. Apparently over 60 groups were turned away from the open house so feeling really fortunate .

Have big hopes for the growth potential of Ballarat hopefully does well for our first one !

 

Also have one in Ballarat East. Pretty area and supply is constrained on the East thanks to the Canadian Forrest recently being declared a state park. Should be good things to come for the area in the future IMO.

 

Was at the auction at 516 Barkly st, Golden Point today: 516 Barkly Street Golden Point Vic 3350 - House for Sale #128864498 - realestate.com.au

It was passed in at $630,000 and was sold later on the day for $632,500. An amazing result for a typical period home in the area, even though the land content is not that large!!!

After talking to a couple of REAs, I learnt from them that stocks are harder to find, especially in central areas and the east.

 

Years ago when I bought my first Ballarat up. I noticed that properties in canadian would be decently.cheaper than a bit closer in.
I assumed that having the forest there would mean it would. Never be cut down.
Not being from Ballarat, I assumed that maybe the forest must have been really yucky
I looked at a few props on Joseph St who always seemed to struggle to sell.

I guess a forest is usually quite ugly and is only beneficial for limiting land in its surrounds

 

Eh? Forests are ugly? Beneficial only for limiting land? Last I checked, forests contain trees and trees are useful for making oxygen for us to breath. Other than that, it's relaxing seeing greenspace.

 

im talking about property price wise

 

Trees are good for property prices, as are forests.
Why a tree-lined nature strip can add 30 per cent to your property value

 

Nows aday many Threads regards about Rat. Only 1 or 2 Threads about Rat 2 yrs ago when I bought my first IP. That’s good ,more and more people interested in Rat.

 

Median prices in several suburbs are up YoY; this is a good sign despite the general median price declines across Melbourne metro and other regional parts of Victoria state.

 

Time to brag about some Ballarat sales:

https://www.realestate.com.au/property/215-raglan-st-s-ballarat-central-vic-3350

Not bad for a house with a literal hole in the floor.

20 Hopetoun Street, Ballarat East, Vic 3350 - Property Details

Not bad for a house on a postage stamp, on a street that basically amounts to a back lane way in Victoria St.

23 Glazebrook Street, Ballarat East, Vic 3350 - Property Details

Not a bad result for some teeny tiny pokey little thing, with barely a dining area. Literally 46.12m2!!

 

They're inner east, which I've said many times is greatly underrated. It wasn't that long ago that you could buy in there for under 200k.

 

ABC Ballarat

HOUSE AUCTIONS BECOMING MORE POPULAR

While Melbourne is seeing falling house prices and poor auction clearance rates, the property market in Ballarat is behaving differently.

Local real estate agent and former REIV President Trevor Booth says central Ballarat has seen 90.6 per cent auction clearance rates recently.

And Mr Booth says more and more properties in Ballarat are being sold via auction because of demand from buyers from Melbourne.

“Melbourne buyers are used to auctions ,” he says.

 

Not sure if this has come up on this thread yet... But on The Property Couch (episode 193), it featured the 'capital gain report' for the last three years, covering the top #50 SUA's (significant urban areas). So, capitals plus about 42 next largest economies.

Ballarat came out near the top of the list for the last 3 years. Growing from a score of about 58 (in their "maybe" range) to a score of 71 or so (now in their "good" range). By comparison, most capitals' markets saw stagnate, minimal, or decline, when averaging out the last 3 years... other markets that shined were Mackay and Launceston, and to a lesser degree Adelaide. Wollongong dropped severely.

Ps if you want the best app to listen to podcasts (my investor-life and skills have grown a lot thanks to doing 30 mins each way, each day, on commute, with podcast headphones in!), I recommend you download the app Castbox. It is free, and aggregates ALL podcasts from around the world - on any topic.

Some good local property ones I enjoy are...

The property couch
Smart property investment
The elephant in the room

Also I find value in some US and UK property ones too. Though these are about different markets and processes of course; there are themes and strategies discussed that are relevant to almost any market in the world.

 

I know. I live in inner east. I wouldn’t mind another inner east property. Preferably a fixer upper ugly duckling.

 

I was living there too, but moved interstate 12 mths ago. Great part of town with excellent access to Ballarat CBD.

 

Regional Victorian towns and cities where house prices have grown most

"Domain senior research analyst Nicola Powell said while the banks’ stricter lending conditions were impacting the major cities, they hadn’t had the same effect on regional areas in Victoria.

“I think it’s really interesting that tighter lending conditions haven’t affected the regional areas,” Dr Powell said.

There were a number of reasons for this including the attraction for first home buyers to more affordable homes and the fact banks were more likely to lend money where their exposure – that is, the debt-to-income ratio of home buyers – was likewise lower.

“It can skew the market towards the lower end,” Dr Powell said.

James Nicol, partner at Biggin & Scott Ballarat, moved into town with his wife (and agency director) Francesca, from Richmond, just before the global financial crisis hit.

He has seen the market improve in leaps and bounds. It is attracting more people from Melbourne, particularly those looking to buy their first home or wanting a bigger home for their growing families.

“We have a mixed bag of buyers. Young families are coming up here with baby number two or three on the way and they’re [saying] ‘we can’t live in a two bedroom unit in Kew anymore’,” Mr Nicol said.

He said home buyers were travelling to Ballarat on Sunday after going through an auction on a Saturday to make an offer through a private sale.

“We’re actually selling more on Sundays because the auction process isn’t for everybody,” Mr Nicol said.

“You can get a really nicely renovated Victorian on 800 square metres which is really attractive to first-home buyers.”

As well as property prices, the improving coffee shops, restaurants and public transport made it attractive to those still wanting a metropolitan lifestyle.

“If Melbourne is New York, then Ballarat is New Jersey,” Mr Nicol, originally from America, said.

“It’s still only just [over] an hour from here by train to Melbourne and some people have trouble getting from Yarraville to the city in less than an hour,” he said."

LGA ........................MEDIAN PRICE (SEPT 2018).....YOY CHANGE
Greater Geelong.....$530,000......................................12.1%
Surf Coast...............$825,000......................................10.0%
Ballarat...................$360,000....................................... 7.5%
Mildura...................$280,000.........................................6.7%
Warrnambool.........$348,250.........................................5.5%
Latrobe..................$257,500.........................................3.4%
Wodonga...............$350,000.........................................2.9%
Greater Bendigo....$345,000.........................................1.5%​

 

Also: Ballarat, other regional cities now more liveable than most of Melbourne

Of particular interest is the last paragraph

 

310 Eureka St sold $562k. 125 Eureka St now under offer, after being marketed with a price guide of $600k plus. Is Eureka St now the place to be or something?

 

Major Ballarat infill projects kicking off city population influx

'A ‘high priority’ of City of Ballarat’s passed planning scheme amendment in October was the preparation of a compact city plan, which states they will ‘encourage 50 per cent of future housing development to occur in established neighbourhoods’.

This is despite current population growth being concentrated in the newer suburbs of Alfredton and Delacombe.

"...the tide is turning to infill developments in the centre of town. It’s central to the transport, such as the train station,” he said. “With Lucas and developments out there, you’re a fair way out from the CBD of our city."'

'Central ward councillor Mark Harris said that on figures in his ward, the “re-population” and significant changing face of Ballarat’s centre was now under way.

“The amount of folk moving into Central Ward … you see parallels in a lot of Melbourne suburbs, and if you get a growth dynamic in a regional city that’ll happen,” he said.

“If you’re looking at prices of houses as a guide, there’s a genuine upward pressure for what would be high-end houses in Ballarat, but would probably be in comparison a modest buy for a public servant coming up here.”'


​