VIC Ballarat Tip: The Capital of Western Victoria

Where did you buy?

 

Ballarat Central

 

Nice one, @Matyd ! Belated congrats! You won't go wrong with centrally-located properties.

Someone I know very well, who went out to one of the newer areas in the west, ended up moving back into somewhere closer to the city centre. Space, larger land and big backyard sheds are still something the scenery changers are looking for. Not 300-sqm full block cookie cutter houses.

 

Cheers. We looked further out in the burbs but were drawn back to Central Ballarat. Personally things made sense for us to buy centrally. Had tenants in it for a while, the rental market in Ballarat seems to still be quite strong?? The information provided by you guys made a huge difference for us considering we were heading out from Melbs every weekend.

 

Quick question: properties around Ballarat Central seem to be advertised mostly for renovation etc. to get the period look maintained. I always thought it is because of heritage overlay, but seems it's not? So essentially one could purchase a Ballarat central property and do a knock down/rebuild? Many thanks.

 

I believe you won't be able to easily knock down and rebuild if a property is protected under heritage overlay. I assume the council would be ok if a place is in really really bad condition, as in not liveable, and there is no other option but to demolish. I'd imagine, a building consultant would come and assess the place before issuing a permit to demolish it.

 

It'll firstly depend if the land is affected by a heritage overlay and what level of significance the subject building has within that. If it's of contributory significance (d-listed) or anything greater, I would suggest that demolition on the basis of just not wanting to retain it will be tricky.
Any demolition of buildings in a heritage overlay will require a planning permit as well.

If its of no listed significance - demolition shouldn't be a massive issue

 

Thanks @James Cavill . Just checked the HO and it seemed to cover the majority of Ballarat central suburbs. How would I know exactly if a property with HO is of contributory significance? Is there a different layer I could check online please? Many thanks!

 

Couple of interesting places have caught my eye lately:

https://www.realestate.com.au/sold/property-house-vic-soldiers+hill-134577138

$780k in 2018 to $2.3M in 2020

https://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-vic-ballarat+central-134969402

2019 $565k on the market for $1.3 - $1.4M

Both great renovations, no doubt, but interesting as those prices are a big step up in those areas / streets, even factoring in the quality of the properties. (moreso the Soldiers Hill one). You're getting into Webster / Sturt prices (Lower end in the Loch case), and lakefront prices in the case of the Soldiers Hill property.

Wondering if these are specifically aimed at the Melbourne market, and surely not investors as the rental returns would be abysmal and can't see a lot of capital appreciation paying at such a premium.

If a few more of these come up and hit their mark might be seeing a second wave of gentrification of the central area? A lot has already risen and been 'gentrified' (if using that term for prices and quality rising, if not heavy shift in demographics) but this breaks into the real premium top end for Ballarat. Plenty of places at the sharp end of Soliders Hill and the side streets off Webster, Sturt and Mair have stock that could get this treatment if these prices are attainable. Looks like a lot of money to be made if so. Would say it would be good news for spillover areas as well (that pocket of Ballarat east above Humffrey or further north in Solider's hill).

Anyway, still outliers for now, but always think it worth noting something that made me stop and take pause as it seemed outside the norm. The Solider's Hill one I'd put down as a flier, but this is arguably two now.

 

Another $80million project from VIC government for Ballarat Base Hospital to be completed by 2027.

More Investment In A Bigger, Better Ballarat Base Hospital | Premier of Victoria

 

Boom, Ballarat is happening. Any word if the GovHub finish date has been pushed out? Cheers

 

End of February 2021.

 

Sweet. Cheers

 

I would imagine though that even if you could knock down a centrally located house that itself wasn't under heritage overlay; the DA plan you submit for the rebuild would be knocked back unless it was 'in keeping with the character of the area'.

I.e. in a street full of ye olde looking houses, I doubt council will let you build a new house that is super modern looking! (I.e. one with "clean lines" or "rendered concrete walls" or "feature wall panelling" etc.)

 

WOW, so much value in this thread! I just finished reading every single post (while taking notes!) and I wanted to thank @Ko Ko Naing , @TMNT and @MikeyBallarat in particular, for all the super helpful information you volunteered. I'm a newbie and I learned A LOT. Thank you for your kindness!

 

Weekend auction highlights frenetic pace of Ballarat's real estate market

"Ballarat's real estate market continued to sizzle on the weekend with one house selling to an overseas investor, sight unseen, for $35,000 above the top of the quoted range.

The three bedroom house at 105 Raglan Street South in Ballarat Central was sold to a Singaporean investor who had a representative bidding at Saturday's auction...

Mr Morrison said the sale was indicative of the current state of Ballarat's real estate market.

"At any open house we'll have about 30 people there and the vast majority are investors looking for investment property," he said.

He said there had been some international investors snapping up local houses, but most investors were buying closer to home.

"The out of town marketplace is pretty strong at the moment. There's a lot of Melbourne and Geelong buyers, and a lot of farmers who are buying investment properties because they've had a good year," he said...

"We've got a number of properties selling within a week - listed on a Wednesday and gone after the first weekend," Mr Morrison said."​

 

Hi guys

I reckon I'm late to Ballarat boom but in it for long.Looking for an IP in Alfredton in allarat estate HL package 25 sq house for 480k land is 460sqm.What are the experts opinion here .please guide...

 

Great information @Ko Ko Naing. And some in-depth knowledge on Ballarat from other contributors. I have fully gone through all the information in this thread.

I saw your story in your signature. Impressive!

I just had a quick look on properties available for sale. There are some great options available on those above suburbs. I just quoted only the suburbs I chose from the list of preferred properties.


I am doing this exercise as a market research. I still need to get the finance arranged. I am looking capital gains. Budget is around 400k.

1. is the distance from train station be a factor while selecting a suburb/house in Ballarat?
2. I guess houses built before 1980 might contain asbestos. Would you check for this? Or what range of year built would you choose/restrict before finalising your list for inspection?
3. I find that average median price there is roughly around ~5.5%. I have checked Wendouree, and Redan between the period 2012 to 2019. I feel Redan and Wendouree may fit my budget. I saw comments regarding Wendouree West being rough . I would concentrate on the overlay you have specified. Is this (growth rate) what you have seen in the past too?
4. What is your thoughts on a budget from 350k-450k?
5. I did my renovations in my previous properties due to both being PPOR at some point in time in the past. This is going to be my first property out of backyard investing. Is renovation needed to bring decent tenants? What is the impact of renovation?

 

You can easily pick something up half decent upto 400k in towards Central Ballarat, especially if your prepared to do a little work.

 

Thank you for the insights. I was searching yesterday in realestate.com.au. May be my search criterea could be too strict.

My filters are as below

Price <500k
Land area >600SQM
Atleast 3 bedrooms
Not under offer.

Ofcourse i just didnt show attention to weatherboard houses and too narrow houses.

I could ONLY get better properties around the areas explained in the above post.

Which fitter can be safely relaxed when it comes to investment?