VIC Ballarat picking up ??

Property investory is another good pod cast for back stories. I find the posters on the wall qwestion is cringeworthy but always a good insite into peoples young minds

 

All this is going to put a lot of pressure on rents in Ballarat. A friend of mine owns a rooming house in Ballarat and his business is going great guns. Usually single or divorced males.

 

Victorian regions where property prices are growing strongly: Hotspotting's Terry Ryder

"Other regional areas where prices have been outperforming Melbourne averages include the Surf Coast, Ballarat, Mildura and Warrnambool – and I suspect that most of these markets, as well as Bendigo and Shepparton, are very early in their growth cycles.

Remember this data next time you read in mainstream media that property prices are falling everywhere."​

 

Ballarat rental market at breaking point as vacancy rate falls

'Rental vacancies in Ballarat are at a record low.

The rental vacancy rate in Ballarat has fallen to 0.8 per cent in October, a drop of 0.1 per cent since September, and is now the lowest regional rate in the state.

This means almost all rental properties in Ballarat are currently being rented.

In October last year, the vacancy rate was 2.0 per cent, and the rate has dropped steadily to its equal-lowest level.

Many local real estate agents have said they were fully or close to fully occupied.

Ray White Ballarat director Phillip Lee said the situation favoured landlords, adding more than 400 people had inspected properties last month.

“The only way to keep up (with demand) is we need people to build or buy more investment properties,” he said.

“It’s great news for landlords, not so great news for tenants – it’s bad news because it’s hard to find (houses).”

Mr Lee said large infrastructure projects requiring employees and contractors to live close by like the hospital and GovHub, and potential changes to the Residential Tenancies Act, were factors leading to the market changing.

“Particularly at the moment, with the windfarms being built around Ballarat, companies want accommodation for workers,” he said.

“It creates an opportunity for an investors ... because Ballarat has huge returns, and there’s the lowest rate in Victoria.

“You can’t build a house overnight, but what’ll happen is it’ll put more pressure on rental prices.

“We’ve had cases recently where we’ve increased rent by 10 per cent and it’s been snapped up.

“Beyond that, until there’s more supply, we’ll continue to have a low vacancy rate.”

Hockingstuart Ballarat’s Lachlain Ramsay said the situation had changed in the last year, with “ridiculously low” stocks.

“There’s only about 200 properties for lease at the moment,” he said.

“Ballarat’s becoming a much more liveable place, there’s more employment opportunities, more infrastructure, and the commute’s not too bad.

“People are realising they can have the same lifestyle they have in Melbourne without the traffic and hustle and bustle.”

He added his business was at 0.23 vacancy rate.

Ballarat is below the regional average, and places like Bendigo have also fallen in the last month, with a similar trend downwards after going up towards the middle of the year.

Geelong is at two per cent, rising steadily since March.

According to Tenants Victoria chief executive Mark O’Brien, a rate of 0.8 per cent was “very low”.

“The general view is anything under two (per cent) is a tight market,” he said.

Mr O’Brien said population growth and inward migration had increased demand for housing in Victoria.

He said it could lead to unwelcome behaviour like rental bidding and sharper rent increases, and would place more pressure on social housing.

CentaCare Ballarat’s chief executive Tony Fitzgerald said rent would begin to creep up over the coming months.

“Rental expectations of landlords gets higher,” he said.'
​

 

Historically, regionals have tended to follow the growth cycles of major capital cities. We saw this in NSW, with major regional cities like Newcastle and Wollongong trailing. With Melbourne housing now maturing, Ballarat and other regionals including Bendigo, should see stronger growth in time.

 

Good news for my relative... He’s been tying to sell his house with a big lot of land and a lot of land for his sheeps since last year.

 

My son and I went down there a couple of months ago for a property inspection. The agent said rents were really tight and one of the factors was airbnb. She said two other properties in his complex were doing a roaring trade in airbnb rentals.

 

Investors warn on Ballarat growth, as rental market tightens

'With rental availability in Ballarat trending downwards, one question being asked is where are new investors?

According to some real estate agents, the problem is the state government’s new rental tenancy agreement laws.

The proposed laws, which have passed through parliament but have not yet come into effect, will allow tenants to keep a pet and make small modifications to their home.

About a quarter of Victorians rent, but many property owners have blamed the changes for their exit from the market, or choosing to use their properties for ‘short-term’ leases, such as Airbnb.

New supply may not be able to help vulnerable people seeking a place to live.

According to Ray White Ballarat director Phillip Lee, young families are looking to outer suburbs like Delacombe, Lucas, and Winter Valley, among others.

“People are looking for newer homes, (there’s) lots of demand for four bed, two bath, two living and a double garage,” he said.

“Everything’s renting overall, but they’re finding those areas more popular because they have the four bedroom homes being built in newer areas.”

The growth is being driven in part by people being priced out of Melbourne, instead choosing to move to Ballarat and commute.

Property investor John Mitchell, who owns two houses in Ballarat, said the area was an attractive prospect, as property prices were still affordable and it was easy to find tenants.

“(People moving from Melbourne) prefer the lifestyle and good schools, but it means people who live and work in Ballarat that can’t afford to buy, they’ll have to look at Clunes or Creswick,” he said.

“They’ll have to commute, and that’ll become part of the way of thinking.”'​

 

Based on the ripple effect as discussed here, it should take another 2-3 years before Ballarat or Bendigo start gaining momentum.

 

Ballarat's already been gaining momentum and should continue to do so.

 

I always thought Clunes was already quite expensive, more expensive than some places in Ballarat proper.

 

Creswick is lovely though . Easy 10 - 15 min drive to Centre of ballarat , and it’s a very pretty country town . Good little public primary school , excellent French bakery/cafe . Good houses , and the prices seem like pocket money to a Sydney sider like me

 

Oh yeah. It’s beautiful. It’s just that it’s percieved to be cheaper but it’s at least as expensive as most older areas in Ballarat proper. I’ve heard amazing things about the French bakery but haven’t tried it myself.

 

Property Report for 125 Eureka Street, Ballarat East VIC 3350

Just got sold $625k. Yes, there’s a recent sale last year at $675k, but that was including a shop that was subdivided into 125a and is being sold for $380-400k right now.

 

20a King Street, Ballarat East, Vic 3350

Any reason why this ain’t selling? Considering that 58 King St Sth sold for $332k relatively quickly, and that was a non heritage house in a less desirable part of the street...seems a little odd that nobody has snapped this up.

 

Can confirm luke is one of the best agents ive ever dealt with.
Ridiculously honest and genuine.

Even keeps in touch with me despite saying i dont want to sell or buy.

The industry needs more like him

 

He certainly does seem like a good fella!

 

I think it’s because of the condition of the house. People could be after renovated period homes, compared to non-renovated ones. Especially, when priced-out FHBs from Melbourne are more active in the current market condition.

For investors, this property is a no-brainer. If we can confirm the structure is still sound, a thorough cosmetic renos should give us a decent equity pull afterwards. Land content-wise, location-wise, it’s all ok to me.

 

that gets my rennovation juices going,

ive never liked the sloping kitchen ceilings, have never worked out a way to make it less ugly

 

Just I'd share as a snapshot of one of the streets I track, as my eyebrows are well as truly raised right now. (Apologies in advance for the wall of text). Loch Avenue:

This one caught my eye (I was watching the reno, saw it when I was in Bunnings a few weeks back and played the usual 'guess the price' to see how decent my valuations are tracking):

https://www.realestate.com.au/property/51-loch-ave-ballarat-central-vic-3350

The reno doesn't look to have changed all that much since 2010 aside from the layout and kitchen, certainly not the change you'd expect for 285k->750k, even over the recent growth period:

51 LOCH Avenue, Ballarat Central, Vic 3350 - Property Details

I missed the open house today so didn't get a chance to gauge interest, but I was expecting more in the 600k-650k range, more likely 650kish, maybe 625k-675k, but not this. The two beside it sold for 569k and 563k recently, up from 382k in May 2011 and 350k (admittedly in 2007) respectively, and both just looked liked needing a standard cosmetic reno-kitchen-bathroom on the face of it. I thought those a bit heavy for investment (looking deeper, I reckoned there was a fair bit needed doing you wouldn't see a return on) and would have expected 650kish as well when done. 23 went for 850k recently up from 210k in Aug 2010.

23 Loch Avenue, Ballarat Central, Vic 3350 - Property Details

Just down a bit - 55 went for 525k as recently as April 2017 (I looked at that one pretty closely too at the time, but didn't fancy it as I'd have preferred work needing done on it, will be kicking myself a little if 51 goes for 750k):

https://www.realestate.com.au/property/55-loch-ave-ballarat-central-vic-3350

It feels like it might be the start the start of big price increases spilling over from Melbourne and the likes of Soldiers Hill (many are getting up near these prices there, and you'd expect central to have more of a premium historically). Sub-markets aside I thought Central had already run it's course and the likes of Redan would be the next big wave (it's certainly booming at the moment). I've noticed similar in very recent sales on Frank street, though Mill and Webster I find harder to gauge with more variation and true premium properties. The streets off Mair street (Raglan, Errard) etc. have had growth, but not as pronounced as this. Stopped tracking Macarthur street as closely but didn't notice the same there either. (but then I feel this is a very recent change, within the last 3-4 months)

Anyway, still watching the area (Mair/sturt-Creswick road triangle) closely, hoping to grab another one with enough value in it for a decent reno and to maybe catch this wave as an added bonus. (Though as noted, recent sales of Frank not giving too much hope of that, seemed priced in). Just doesn't happen too often that my valuations are out of step with sales by this amount unless it's the early stages of a boom and I haven't yet adjusted. (Had it happen often in enough in the past to get that 'tingle' earlier now, though I always feel a couple of months out of step!).

Wonder if we'll see a big jump in the Median in central the next couple of quarters, or if it's limited to a few of these sub markets. I'd love if it's the former, and if the keyboard capital growth chasers can hopefully pile in then, as with Soliders Hill. Ballarat already as enough google fodder for the 'next growth area' that some data and suburb specific confirmation bias could see a spike I feel.

Really going to have to hope rents start moving though (I'm looking at you, 0.8% vacancy rate), the yields on some of these defy logic otherwise.